Tamed
by Wind Lane
Summary: Raven and Beast Boy have been sent into special training to try and master the full scope of their powers. Both fight against the fear of their darkness within. They will struggle through this together, what will the results be? BBxRae. Completed.
1. Yellow, White, and Green

(A/N) So, I thought I would write up this story that's been playing around in my head for a couple of nights now. (I fall asleep faster if I let my mind daydream about various ficticious things, like my musical ability) Main thing I was going for was a non-contrived story as the background. Flame if you want, I've never experienced it before and could use the blow to my overly inflated ego.

Secondary note – The rating was changed just to be safe because of upcoming story events.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Chapter 1 – Yellow, White, and Green - In which we learn the cause of Robin, Raven, and Beast Boy's apprehensions.

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Robin grimaced a little as he thought about how best to proceed. "She won't do it if I don't have the answer to every question she's going to throw at me."

"But dude, you know that it's a good idea. Even if she asks something you haven't planned out yet you'll be able to come up with an answer because…well, because you can think that fast." Beast Boy said to encourage Robin with going forward with their plan. It had come to Beast Boy one night after everyone had gone to bed sore from the day's battles. They had proven victorious, as Starfire had put it, in every fight, but Beast Boy kept thinking about how best to not come home this sore and tired when they were just minor villains that they had taken down.

"All right, we'll talk to Raven, but we won't force her. It needs to be her choice." Robin thought a bit longer. "No, that won't work. If it's totally left up to her, she won't do it. It'll have to be a direct order. I don't like to do that kind of thing, but ultimately I think you're right about it, we need more fire power without expanding our numbers."

"I told you it makes too much sense to pass up. Do you want me to go get her?"

"No, I think it'll be best if I get her, but I want you there while I talk to her. Just…keep quiet until I finish telling her, OK?"

"Got it."

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Beast Boy watched Robin walk back into the common room with Raven following behind him. Raven sat on the couch looking first questioningly up at Robin and then calculatingly at Beast Boy. It made him a little nervous to have her try and frighten him off like that, so he did what came naturally. He waved while smiling his panicked little smile. Robin ended her intimidation of Beast Boy when he spoke "Raven, I asked him to be here, it involves him too. So, knock it off with the look."

She looked back at Robin, keeping her face blank now. She was curious about why her and Beast Boy both needed to have a private meeting with their spiky haired leader. She decided to help things get rolling so she could find out. "So, what's all this about then?"

Robin eyed her expression hoping to get some little hint of something so that he would know how to word what had to be said. Seeing nothing, he decided to be direct. "How many times have you been able to change into the white clad Raven?"

Raven's eyes widened at this. It had caught her off guard, but her mind started to remember all the times and she simply stated, "Three. Four if you count when Starfire saw us all in the future."

"Then it's three since the future hasn't happened and that future won't ever happen." Seeing her look of mild shock he answered it with "Well, it won't. We might end up something like that, but not that exactly. Starfire bringing back herself and that clock proved that." Seeing that Raven had calmed at this explanation he pressed on. "When you change into your white clad self you have more control over your powers as well as more power, right?"

Raven only nodded at this. She wanted to see where this was going.

Catching the slight question in her Robin said his next lines as though he was laying the last of his cards on the table. "We need that to be available to the team. Today helped this decision along, but it's been on my mind since Trigon's defeat. Beast Boy is the reason I acted on it though. When he told me about what he had been thinking about it only confirmed that it was the right decision."

She looked over at Beast Boy, annoyance in her voice. "And what decision was made for me between you two?"

"It wasn't Beast Boy's decision at all, it's mine. So, if you want to be mad at somebody while you're gone then it better be me."

"Gone? Why? What did I do?" The hurt in her voice let Robin know that he was going to have to get through the rest of his explanation as quickly as he could to save her any more pain.

"You didn't do anything wrong. It's not like that. Like I said, we need your increased power that your white clad form brings. What I'm having you do is go off to a safe place where you can work on how to make your changing either permanent or so that you can call it up at will without any bad side effects like the weakness that hit you after the time you changed while Beast Boy and Cyborg were in your mind. You'll stay out there till you can do that, and when you're done you come right back here into the Titans."

Raven had calmed down, but still looked worried about all of it. "What if I can't do it?"

"Then you'll still come right back home. But, I need you to try even if it takes months, even if it goes slow. I need you to try." Robin steeled himself for what he had to say next, praying that it wouldn't hurt her. "And, it's not a request for you to go, it's an order. You'll be leaving next Monday."

Raven's head had shot up at his declaration of her leaving being an order. She was glad that she would get the rest of the week to collect her thoughts and get the details on where she was headed when a question popped into her mind. She frowned. "You still haven't said why Beast Boy is here."

Robin smiled at this in spite of himself. "He's going with you."

Raven glared over at the green young man who was smiling sheepishly at the floor to keep himself from having to look at her. "I don't need a baby sitter."

Robin's smile only got bigger. "He's not baby sitting, he's going so that he can train along with you."

"What does Beast Boy need to train for?" She said trying to give Robin a look that would get rid of that big smile on his face.

"I'm going because I can't control my powers to their fullest." Beast Boy's first words caught Raven in a wave of confusion.

"I've never seen you lose control of your powers." Was all that she could think to say.

"That's 'cause you weren't awake for most of it. I may be able to control that beast in me sometimes, but only when we're in serious danger. If we get out of that kind of threat and I'm still that thing then I lose myself. That…it takes over me. But, if I learned how to contain it and use it whenever I needed then it would help out the team a lot. Plus I need somebody to help me who I won't hurt, and you're the only one I never attack when I'm like that."

His face had never looked up from the floor tile he was staring at while his eyes showed the kind of sadness that Raven had only seen on his face a few times. He looked pitiful and she didn't like that he could feel that badly about himself. "I'll go, I'll go and train to…to…become…" She couldn't finish the line but quickly added "And, I'll help Beast Boy too."

Beast Boy's face finally looked up to her at these words and he smiled weakly. She gave him a slight smile in return and his smile turned into one of is full on teeth flashers. "We'll help each other."

Robin was glad to see the two finding confidence in one another, friendship was going to help them through the struggles they had ahead of them. "Good, get some rest tonight and tomorrow I'll fill you both in on all the details and we'll be able to have a little party this weekend before your send off." He was proud of how well his teammates were taking everything and the comradery that they showed. These were the times he felt like he had been a good leader to them.

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Robin had explained all about the small island he had found for them to train on. It had natural fruit trees, berries, roots, and even some vegetables that grew wild. There were a few rivers that they could get fresh water and fish from, forests covered part of the island, and there was even a small mountain in the northeastern interior. There was some wild life, but nothing dangerous to Beast Boy or Raven. It was an uninhabited island, Robin had explained, so that if they lost control while they were there that no innocent people would be hurt. They would have shelter in the form of a couple of modular rooms Cyborg had built for them. They weren't as big as their bedrooms, but they were comfortable and had some small bits of furniture they could use to put up things that made the little houses feel more like their own tiny homes.

The party had been fun, especially when Robin had tasted Starfire's special goodbye dish that she had spent the whole afternoon preparing. Robin had had his back turned when Beast Boy switched the chip dip with Starfire's concoction. Even Raven chuckled softly at look of revulsion that froze on the boy wonder's face. Cyborg and Best Boy had played one last game to see who would hold the crown of champion gamer until the training was over. Beast Boy had won, but Robin could tell that Cyborg had not been playing his absolute hardest as a kind of present to Beast Boy before he left.

Monday morning dawned and found all the titans loading up a pair of helicopters they had been allowed to use from the local police. Their actions were quiet and reserved as they each turned introspective. This would be the first extended leave of any of the original five since they had formed. It weighed heaviest on Starfire who kept having to wipe a tear away when one would escape her efforts to hold them back.

The flight was uneventful as they glided over the ocean towards their destination. Raven, who had been deep in thought about what lay before her decided that she needed to get her mind off of that subject, for at least a little while. "You guys really think you'll be OK with just the three of you?"

Robin had been expecting this line of questions much sooner answered. "We're bringing in a couple of honorary titans until you two get back."

This shocked Raven at first, but as she thought about it, it made more and more sense. "Who?"

"Hotspot and Wildebeest." Cyborg chimed in. "They weren't really part of any group and could use the experience. They might even get in on the ground floor for a Titans North group."

"Cool." Raven didn't want to admit it, but she was glad there wasn't going to be anyone with powers anything like hers coming into the group while she would be gone. She knew her friends cared deeply for her, but it still didn't totally ease her mind when she imagined some telekinetic teen coming in that was a lot easier to get along with then she could be. She meandered through these thoughts until she heard Robin tell the other chopper pilot to follow him to the landing site on the island.

"We're here," was all he said as they slowly descended. Starfire opened up the side door and flew gently beneath each of the helicopters detaching the modular houses that were hung from cables on the underside. She placed them off to the side of the copter's landing area and waited below for the machines to finish landing.

As Raven stepped out of the vehicle to survey her surroundings she turned to see Starfire looking at her apprehensively. "What's up, Star?"

"Friend Raven, I wish to know if the placement of your dwellings is acceptable."

Raven turned to see that Starfire had nestled each of their rooms in the shade of a couple of trees slightly facing each other just off the edge of the clearing they had landed in. Raven smiled lightly as she turned back to Starfire. "It's fine Star, I'm sure…"

The end of her statement was cut off as Starfire grabbed her into a tight hug. Her next words were somewhat garbled as she let the tears she had been holding in pour out. "I shall greatly miss you friend Raven. I am deeply saddened that you must leave us for this while." She let go of the slightly frazzled Raven to say her next few words. "Also, I will be the only girl while you are gone and I will not be able to do the girl talk with you or meditate or go to the shopping." She looked down sadly. "Though, I am glad that you seek to improve yourself, it does not change the feeling that my friend and sister is leaving and I do not like that feeling."

Though a little crumpled from Starfire's hug, Raven was deeply touched by her friend's words of kindness and caring. "It's OK Starfire, I'll be coming back, I promise. And, when I do, we'll go to the mall and get all caught up on our girl talk." Her small smile brought a similar smile from Starfire who looked slightly ashamed of her outburst.

"I will look forward to that time." Starfire said allowing her smile to broaden.

They both looked over to see that the boys had finished unloading the luggage and that they were carrying it over to where the girls had been talking. Cyborg easily carried the most, but he was having trouble seeing where he was going and kept bumping into Beast Boy and Robin, causing bags to be dropped here and there. Finally finishing the clumsy little trip to the houses all three plopped their loads in front of the two small buildings when Robin spoke up. "Well, everything is in place. Beast Boy will be able to find the food and water, and we got you guys some packaged stuff in your gear for tonight or in case of…well, whatever. I think it's time for us to go."

Raven again was crushed by a hug from Starfire who beamed brightly as she gripped her friend. Cyborg gave Beast Boy some brotherly words of encouragement followed by a high five. Well, as high as Beast Boy could reach anyway. "Good luck, little green man."

"Pssh. Like I need luck."

"OK, you guys still have your comms. If you need food, send out a yellow signal, and if there's trouble send out a red signal, and when you guys are ready to be picked up, just send out a blue signal." Robin said ticking off the things they could need in his mind.

"Dude, why don't we just say what we need through the comm.?" Beast Boy said smirking.

"Because we could be fighting some bad guy and hearing a noisy little grass stain could tell him where we're hiding." Cyborg retorted with a snort.

Beast Boy's smirk slid straight into a sheepish snicker at himself. "Guess that's why you guys lead."

"Right. Anyway, don't forget what needs to be accomplished. Especially you, Beast Boy." Raven thought Robin had said his last sentence a little forcefully considering their tasks were deeply personal and not likely to ever be forgotten or ignored. She pushed these musings down as she and Beast Boy watched their three friends and teammates climb into the helicopter they had all ridden to the island on. Both waved as it lifted off and drifted away out of sight.

Beast Boy was the first to speak. "Well, guess we should unpack and then just look around so we know where things are." And, with that, they both moved off to the pile of gear and luggage that they had sitting in front of their little houses that they would call home for the next little while.

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(A/N) Well, that's it for this bit o' story. Sorry if it's not how you like it. I wrote it how I like it. More to follow, though I'm kinda flakey. I wouldn't be surprised if the story was wrote up in full over the course of a week or through a whole year. Let me know what you think, and I'll tell you if it was a good enough opinion. ;-)


	2. For Want of Plumbing

(A/N) If anybody actually reads this, I would appreciate one comment. If you already see one comment, you can ignore the previous statement. I couldn't find my own fic on unless I set all the sorting parameters a certain way. Remember, flames are welcome cause everybody could use a little pyrotechniques in their life.

Secondary note – The rating was changed just to be safe because of upcoming story events.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Chapter 2 – For Want of Plumbing – Wherein we learn of the hardships of superheroes roughing it and see just how good Beast Boy is at tact.

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Raven had just finished putting the last of her things away in her little hut, as Beast Boy liked to call them. She looked out of her door and saw that Beast Boy was still pulling his things inside, trying to decide if he should just throw certain things straight onto the floor or if he should put them in some drawer or another first. She smiled inwardly to herself at the silly things that he kept muttering about keeping himself entertained.

"Man, a video game and a tofu burger would have been sweet tonight. I wonder if Cyborg is gonna tape my shows. Do the Beast Boy, dun dun dun duh dun duh dun dundun, dun dun dun duh dun duh dun dundun." He had sung the last bit to himself while reaching for his last little duffle bag when he caught Raven watching him from her doorway. "What's up, Rae?" He said with a smile as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Just watching you trying to figure out if being messy now is better then being messy later. Kind of a slobs dilemma I guess." She quipped as she smirked very slightly.

"Yeah, but one that no slob can escape. Eventually, you just hit a point where everything is totally clean and folded and it's easier to put it away." He smirked even more broadly as he added, "Plus, this way I can revamp my whole slob system."

"Sounds like a lot of work. Too much maybe?"

"You're thinking of procrastinators and lazy people, us slobs got plenty of energy to put into our craft."

Even Raven couldn't deny that this was a pretty good comeback and smiled at it. She walked back into her room, letting Beast Boy get back to his craft, when something hit her like a ton of bricks. She quickly walked out of her hut and over to Beast Boy's door. "Um, Beast Boy?" He turned to her, and as they looked deeply into one another's eyes she said, almost in a whisper, "Where's the bathroom?"

Beast Boy's eyes widened with his smile. "We kind of have to put it together still." He paused, trying to think of what to say next as he saw the slight panic in her eyes. "Uh, Cyborg said it would be easy and that we wouldn't have to know how the parts go together or anything, just that we would have to dig a little and that the toilet and the shower weren't going to be anywhere near each other."

Raven just stood there with a look of firm disbelief as she realized the full meaning of the word uninhabited. No plumbing whatsoever. Not a faucet, not a drain, not a single hose to anything. "What about laundry and dishes and cleaning our food?" She was starting to get upset.

"It's covered, all the washing happens at the closest fresh water source we can find. The toilet gets set up close to our huts, and any water we want here will have to be carried here. It'll be strange at first, but it's not like real camping or roughing it, we have everything we need and stuff we want too."

His little explanation had not totally satisfied her. "And, will it be hot water for the shower?"

At this Beast Boy felt like he was being targeted like a plane would do to an enemy fighter in one of his video games. He knew now why the enemy fighters tried so hard to keep this from happening. "Uhm, I think so, but he didn't say, and I kinda shower in cold water anyway."

Raven worked hard to calm herself down, she knew it wasn't Beast Boy's fault he didn't know, she had let Robin make all the preparations and left herself out of it so that she could think more about what she had been asked to do. "Well…" she said finally relaxing into a more calm, yet disgruntled state. "Lets get everything set up soon, I kind of need to use the bathroom."

Beast Boy blinked and then kicked himself into action. "Well, the crates that have all that stuff are over here." He walked over to a stack of four wooden boxes set slightly back from the clearing near their houses. Each one had some blocky-stenciled caricature representing what was in it. Beast Boy changed into a gorilla and lifted one of the top crates off the one with a toilet stenciled on its side. Pulling the top off with ease he changed back and looked inside. "Well, it's just some little doohickey with a button on top and a piece of paper that says we gotta put it on top of a three foot wide by three foot long by six foot deep hole and that we should keep it at least fifty feet from the front doors and windows of our huts but at least a hundred feet from any fresh water.

"So, where do we put it then?" Raven felt weird asking Beast Boy about what to do when he normally seemed like the most clueless one of the group, but she admitted that he seemed to have talked with Robin more about how to actually manage in their temporary home than she had.

"Well, first we need to find out where the fresh water is, and that means not just in one direction, but all of them. We can find out where the closest water is and then put the toilet in the opposite direction so that we don't have to keep going past it when we want a drink or whatever."

"How did you figure all this out?" She asked as a cloudy thought came into her mind.

"Huh? What do you mean?" He had slurred his second question so that the only reason she understood it was because she had been around the green titan enough to hear the actual words in his sometimes overly shortened speech.

"Well, you know about all the domestic things we need to do, you know where best to put everything, you know what we have and that it's made so that we can get it all setup easily. You know about everything that isn't directly our mission here. I want to know how come you can do that kind of stuff now, but not when we're tracking down whoever back in Jump City."

Beast Boy knew that she was going to call him on this sooner or later, Robin had told him so and they had talked about what to do when it happened. Robin liked a plan for everything Beast Boy thought as he smiled to himself. "Uh, didn't you say you needed to use the bathroom?" Hoping that he could put off the uncomfortable thought of being grilled with questions from Raven by reminding her of her full bladder.

"Yes, but that still doesn't change the fact that I want to know."

Crap. "Well, uhm, then let's start looking for water and I'll tell you as soon as I'm able."

"What do you mean, as soon as you're able? Why not just talk while we look?"

"'Cause I kind of have to change to be able to smell the water so that we can find it faster and I can't talk while I'm not human 'cause only some birds can talk, and they do it a different way then us, so I can't even really do it then. Besides, I'm not changing into a bird, deer can smell the water better." He held his breath to see if she would allow him to do it his way and not just tell him that she'd rather hear his answer and walk.

"Fine, but as soon as we're done, you're telling me what's going on with you and all this." She glared at him, annoyed that he looked relieved at her words, and when he didn't do anything she got a little snippy. "Well? Change all ready."

Beast Boy shook off his relief and quickly formed into a deer. He sniffed high over his head and caught the smell of water on all sides of him. Some was strong and salty, so he knew that that was the ocean. Some was clear and crisp and smelt light, so that was probably the river. The small different smell off across from the clearing was clean and had a whiff of algae and moss to it, so that was standing water, probably a lake or some bit of the river that bulged out away from the main flow.

Raven watched as the tall stag turned towards her after it had finished breathing in the surrounding air. And, although she knew it was just Beast Boy, she still felt awe struck by the way the creature moved. She could tell why so many people had found them worthwhile to watch. Breaking out of her inner thoughts she saw Beast Boy jerk his head a couple of times in the direction that he wanted her to follow. He started to trot off as Raven lighted off the ground and flew silently after him.

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Beast Boy rummaged through the rations that they had been given grabbing a few different cans out as he shuffled them around to see everything. After having grabbed his choices he headed over to the little campfire that he had going. He had decided that if he was going to tell Raven what she wanted to know then he wanted her as calm and content as possible. A good meal sitting in front of her and a nice campfire to stare at would help.

Raven walked back into their campsite and was surprised to see Beast Boy walking towards her with a cup of tea in his hand. "Uh, thanks. You didn't have to cook for me." She said as she saw the plate sitting on a folding tray next to a similarly built chair.

"I just wanted to do something nice for you. That's not bad or anything…is it?" He said looking a little disquieted about more then just their current conversation.

"No, nothing bad about it at all. Um, thanks." She sat down and ate a little of the canned spaghetti and meatballs. "For canned stuff, this isn't too bad. What are you having?"

He sat down at his little tray and chair, which was about a quarter way around the fire. "Uh, mostly just veggies and a couple of fruit cups I think Star snuck into the stuff for me. Guess she doesn't know they go bad if you keep them out of the fridge for too long." He chuckled a little at this as he ate, trying to not wolf everything down so that Raven would be comfortable.

Even though he was doing very well at not swallowing his food whole, Beast Boy still finished his dinner before Raven. Setting his plate and fork aside and making sure he had some water nearby in case his throat ran dry out of fear he asked Raven the question he had been dreading asking her all day. "So, what did you want to know…uh, you know, from earlier?"

Raven had felt that she couldn't feel any more cozy with her surroundings then she was feeling when he had asked so that at first she didn't grasp what he was asking. She looked at him for a little bit when it finally came clearly back to her. The water, the places to put everything, everything that had been sent with them, everything, he knew everything about how they were going to be able to survive on the island and not just barely survive, but comfortably. Still feeling cozy though, she asked her question in a much gentler tone. "How did you get so well prepared on everything in so short a time when you've never done anything like that before in all our missions?"

Beast Boy looked into Raven's eyes and seeing that she was just looking for understanding he decided to answer in full this time. "It's kinda complicated. Your question's got a lot bigger answer then I think you really want, but if you'll let me answer. I mean, the whole answer, and you have to promise not to get mad before I'm done…" He quickly interjected. "…Then I'll tell you all of it."

Feeling like she might have opened a bigger can then she had meant to, Raven decided to still press forward and give Beast Boy his chance to explain everything. "OK, I promise. But, if I need something explained in greater detail I get to ask about it."

"That's fair. I mean I do that almost every time you guys start talking about anything more complicated than a video game controller." He replied with a smirk. His smirk faded though as he went back into the mindset he felt he needed to answer her.

"Well, first I have to tell you something about Robin."

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(A/N) Yeah, yeah, I know. Everyone hates the whole cliffhanger thing. In my defense, I'm not used to writing in chapters. I've only ever done one shots, and they're always of the long variety. I like how the story is progressing personally. Like I said earlier I'm writing this so that at least I enjoy it. I hope some of you do too, but if not, well…it was meant to be liked by me first and you second. I don't know any of you well enough to write for you, so I gotta write for me. Oh by the way, please review, it would be interesting to see if I was on a similar wavelength with anyone else.


	3. Deep Green

(A/N) Wow…people actually read this thing. Sweet. OveractiveMind, that was a nice use of Al lyrics. Anyway, there was only one question in the reviews, so I'll answer that here. Yes. And with that…all right, all right, the question was whether or not I was going to use Raven's emotions in this fic. Of course! I love the idea of a rainbow of Ravens to toy with. I've been reading all the transcripts of all the episodes, taking notes of course, just so that I can get Raven done as correctly as possible. It's not too hard, just kind of tedious. Anyway, for anybody who hadn't figured it out yet, this story is more about character development than action. It will have action, just that it won't be the focus. Character development is what I always thought fanfics were for.

Secondary note – The rating was changed just to be safe because of upcoming story events.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Chapter 3 – Deep Green – Where our heroes dig into the thoughts and intentions of one another and Robin as well.

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"Why Robin?"

Beast Boy slouched a little in his chair, getting himself comfortable for the talk they were about to have. "Because he's a pretty good chunk of your answer." Seeing that she was listening carefully, he continued. "Robin has had major training in psychology and logic from his years with Batman. He used that training and still does to make the team stronger and closer. He normally doesn't tell anyone 'cause he says that they would resist the idea of being manipulated or guided into mindsets and actions that would best help the team. He's got all of us figured out pretty well, so he just says or does things to get the domino effect going that gets him the end result he thinks will help us the most. He makes mistakes, and his own personality gets in the way sometimes, but he's pretty good at getting everything to turn out like he plans."

Raven's frown showed she didn't like the idea of Robin playing her and the other Titans off of one another. "How come you know about that, but none of the rest of us do."

This question made him squirm a little, but his mouth opened to answer anyway. "'Cause he told me what he was doing almost right after I joined the Titans." Watching Raven's eyes go wide he pressed forward, though cautiously. "He told me that I got to know because I was a little too random to be kept in the dark about it and it still work. He told me why each of us were in the Titans, well…he told me the reasons besides our powers and good guy attitudes. He said that I was mainly there to keep everyone from getting so uptight that they would fight…and I mean a real fight, not just yelling and stuff. I help Cyborg blow off steam by playing video games with him, I listen to Starfire's weird stories and talk to her so that Robin isn't the only one, I keep Robin from forgetting that he's a person who needs to have fun sometimes…it's all about making sure we don't get too stressed and take it out on each other. Each of us is on the team to help balance out the others."

"What about me? You said what you do with everybody else, so what are you supposed to be doing for me?" She didn't feel as upset as before seeing that Robin hadn't done anything malicious. It was actually a smart idea, but her curiosity had gotten her, so she just stared at Beast Boy, waiting for her answer.

"Well…" He didn't want to make her mad and he didn't want to go back on his promise, so his brain froze for a few seconds. He would just have to tell her. "Uh…I'm supposed to be kind of an annoyance, but not on purpose! I don't try to get you mad, I'm just supposed to include you in as much as possible and I end up bugging you and I don't want you to think I'm doing it just 'cause Robin said so, he just sort of encouraged me to not give up on including you and trying to get you to smile and laugh and I really just don't want you to do anything to me right now, so please let me finish with all the rest of your question. Please?"

The pure speed he had just said everything, and all in one breath at that, made Raven laugh very slightly in spite of herself. "You don't have to worry Beast Boy, I'm not mad. You don't really annoy me. It's just that…before we got rid of Trigon I couldn't always choose which emotion to feel. I repressed all of them and when one would start to bubble up I got worried and Trigon's influence over me would turn that into anger." She waited to see if this calmed him down. It did, but not fully. Not wanting her friend to be afraid of her she looked down, smiling a little. "Besides, part of me likes your jokes and that you want me to be a part of everything no matter what. Everybody needs to feel like other people want them around."

Her smile had done it; the words were just a nice addition. Feeling his courage return, Beast Boy continued his explanation. "Well, since now you know what Robin was doing I can explain about here. You and I are kinda opposites. You're reserved and focused and I'm a joker who relaxes as soon as there's no bad guys around…" He laughed a little. "And, sometimes when the bad guys are still there." He liked that Raven was smiling at what he said; it had always made him feel…up. "And since we're opposites that means that we'll kind of stretch each other 'cause we'll want to do things our usual ways instead of the other's."

"So, how are we going to do that?" Her question was one of true interest. The thought that Robin and Beast Boy had put so much thought into this and the obvious work that Beast Boy had done to be ready for being the main one to tell about it all was fascinating.

"Well, Robin gave me some stuff for each of us as a kind of homework to do besides our training, stuff that's supposed to help us along the way. He gave me some pretty thick books on animals and their skills and abilities and some books that have fun animal trivia he thinks that I can use to increase how well I choose which animal to change into."

"So books for you and what did he get for me, a game station or something?" She asked with a smirk. Seeing Beast Boy reading; and not only reading, but also studying what he read would be a strange sight.

Beast Boy smiled back at her. "Kind of…it's some comic books and a couple of books that aren't at all what you normally read. Oh! And a journal that he wants you to write down every emotion you feel and what that emotion caused your powers to do…whether you were trying to use your powers at the time or not. Any kind of change from their normal effects."

"But I don't let my emotions out, how does he expect me to do that kind of stuff?" A serious look played across her face as she waited for Beast Boy to speak.

Beast Boy frowned. Was she really going to be this difficult about it already? "Why didn't you give a name to your white uniform transformation?"

Raven's eyes looked to his, then the ground, and then back to his. She would answer him; he was answering everything she asked, even the things that made him uncomfortable. "Because I know what I'm really doing. I know what's really happening when I change like that…I'm becoming…whole." Her eyes threatened her with tears and she blinked them back letting her face grow hard. "To keep Trigon from getting control of me for all these years I shattered myself. I made my emotions actual beings in my head so that I could keep a better watch over them and control them. But, it came at a price. I'm not really whole. I'm just the outer shell. To become that white Raven all the time would mean not only undoing what I did, but it also means unlearning how I act because of it. Robin called it the white clad Raven, you call it a transformation, but it's really me…just…an undamaged me." A few of the tears she had tried to lock in place had escaped and were softly dripping off of her chin. She wiped a few more away from one of her eyes when she saw that Beast Boy had come over next to her.

"Don't cry, Raven." He kneeled down beside her. "You're not a bad person, you're not some outer shell, and you're not damaged. You're just doing what all of us do. You're locking out the things that hurt."

He had placed his hand comfortingly on hers and she sniffled. She smiled up at her friend and she felt better seeing that he smiled back. He gave her hand a little squeeze and then he moved back to his chair. "Thanks, it's hard for me to face up to the fact that all those other Ravens are me." She was glad that she had such a good friend; he really did seem to know how to cheer her up. Raven finished pulling herself back together and looked back to Beast Boy. "So how do comic books and novels help me to rejoin my emotions?"

Beast Boy waited a second, making sure he had remembered exactly what Robin had told him about this part. It needed to be direct and firm. "You're not allowed to push down your emotions anymore. Not out here anyway. You have to get used to feeling them, then you'll work on keeping them reigned in, but only as much as they need to be. From now till we leave, you need to let go and just feel. The comics and novels are to help you do this in a steady, but easy pace. They're stuff that'll get some kind of emotion out of you, but nothing too strong at first."

She had stiffened in her chair. Feeling slightly panicked she asked her next question with obvious fear in her voice. "Won't that put you in danger?"

"Yes." His look pierced her through and through. "But, I came willingly. I knew what was going to be happening here. I know something could go wrong, but I think you're more important then me keeping safe. We are super heroes after all…danger just kind of comes with the job. You'll be at risk too. Just because the beast inside me has never attacked you doesn't mean it never will. Meat is meat to most animals." He hadn't said this to frighten her, just to show that they were on equal footing, but it obviously unnerved her some. "I don't think anything will happen, to either of us. Robin thinks that since you're free of Trigon that your powers won't escape, and if they do, that you'll be able to control what happens with the over flow. Trigon isn't going to be able to use you and turn it into destruction anymore. Besides, you never hit any of us with the power outbursts even when he was around. And as for the beast, there's plenty of wildlife for him to hunt. You're a bit too much of a fighter for a predator. They like prey that runs. A fight is never a good thing when looking for dinner."

This had floored Raven; Beast Boy had knowingly set himself at risk so that he could help her. And he was doing it on just his and Robin's guesses. "I'm not worried about me, I just think it's a big risk for you to take."

"I already know, and I'm staying."

He almost looks defiant, Raven thought to herself. "OK, so finish answering the question." It was the only thing she could think of to get back on the subject they were slowly plodding through.

"OK…uh…where were we?" He smiled, slightly bashful.

"You just finished laying out my ground rules for while we're here. Why not just tell me what yours are?"

"Oh, OK. Uh, I have to practice changing into lots of different animals, and get better at changing from one thing to another. Robin gave me a chess board too." Seeing Raven snicker he retorted, "He said it was for learning about planning moves ahead of time, adjusting when your plans get interrupted, and…uh…" He looked like he was trying to wrinkle his forehead tight enough to squeeze the answer out when it hit him. "Oh yeah! And so that I can learn to anticipate what someone else is going to do. It's all about strategy."

Raven's smile at watching Beast Boy struggle in this part of his briefing faded with the idea that had floated to the top of her mind. "And what about the beast?" Part of her wanted to stop calling it 'the beast'. She knew that it was a part of Beast Boy whether he liked it or not…just like her with her emotions, though some emotions more than others.

Beast Boy couldn't seem to look Raven in the eyes; his gaze kept sliding just off to her side or the floor. "Once a week I have to become that thing. If I start to get control over it then I start changing into it more often. You're supposed to keep a close eye on me while I'm changed so that I don't escape the island and so that I eventually change back. If you have to use force to make those things happen, Robin has cleared you to do whatever it takes."

"But…"

"No." He had cut her off quicker then he had meant to, but this needed to be said. "You agreed to come. You were also ordered. You'll keep me on this island no matter what and make sure that the morning after I change I wake up Beast Boy. If you won't do that, then we need to tell them to come pick us up right now."

His firm tone and determined words still weren't enough for her to hold back her worries. "What if I end up hurting you?" She didn't like the idea of having to hurt anyone; one memory of Trigon was all she needed to keep far away from that path.

His smile was not one of his usual playful grins, but a stoic grimace set against a known peril. "I'm not that delicate, Rae. You didn't see it, but Cyborg told me about the fight everybody was involved in while you were missing. I took direct hits from all of them. Cy's cannon, Star's star bolts, and Robin's birdarangs and kung fu, he said I beat them pretty bad after their attacks, said it had only made me mad."

Raven's eyes went wide for what felt like the hundredth time that week at thinking that Beast Boy had bested three of the Titans by himself. She was starting to understand why Robin would want that kind of help available to the team. "So, if I have to use my powers on you, you think you'll be OK?"

"I think that if you have to use your powers on me you should keep yourself at a good altitude until you can trap me and lock me up." He paused turning introspective before he snapped out of it and continued. "Robin said that I change back after I'm exhausted or after I've got whatever that primal thing wants, but he's not totally sure about that."

Raven stared at Beast Boy, trying to figure out if everything he had just said was enough to make her comfortable with the possibility of attacking him to hold to their objectives. He had said he knew he was at risk and that he accepted that, and the logic that he used all worked out. The plan seemed like it would work. Well, it would work enough to let them try to control their inner selves. "All right, we stay. I still don't like that I'm finding out now that I might have to fight you."

Beast Boy couldn't help but smile at this. "Robin said it would be better to wait so that you wouldn't back out of the whole thing."

"Wonder boy is too clever for his own good." A slight pout on her lips as she said this. "So how did you remember all this stuff? We've been talking forever."

His giggle ended her little pity party. "Robin's been beating this stuff into me since before he even told you we were coming here. He even made these CDs that had, like, these lectures on stuff that I would need to know." His smile showing more teeth now, "I've been cramming like it's finals week in college!"

Raven let Beast Boy giggle to himself. She could see that he was just relaxing a little after having to be serious and patient with her questions for so long. She sighed to let him know he had gone on enough and he just looked at her, a little puzzled.

"What? I thought that I explained everything. There's other stuff that you haven't asked about, but all I can think of that we didn't go over at all was that it wasn't just Robin figuring out how you would act and react to stuff. I may not have done as much as him, but I helped him wherever he went wrong that I could see. Oh! And, the whole cramming thing I had to do was part of my test to see if I was ready to come out here. He was checking to see if I could actually study and keep it ready for use. He kept giving me these dumb pop quizzes whenever it was just him and me around. Kind of annoying if you ask me. And then he just kept going on and on about where to find the food, and the water, and the tea trees, and the fish, and…"

"Beast Boy! Stop. I get the idea. I wasn't asking for any more answers, I was just thinking that it's kind of late. Maybe we should get to bed. Robin probably gave you a schedule for what we're supposed to do tomorrow and…wait. Tea trees? Why was he telling you about tea trees?"

Beast Boy did a double take at her question…it seemed like an easy one to him. Maybe it was just because he had worked for almost two solid weeks at getting ready for all those other questions. "'Cause you'll run out of tea eventually and you seem to really like having your tea, so Robin packed a book that tells you how to dry the leaves and stuff and got you one of those weird little metal screen balls that you'll use instead of tea bags."

'Uninhabited' Raven reminded herself. "OK…uhm, you did really well answering all my questions, thanks, but I'm going to bed now. I need to think and sleep." Giving him the compliment just seemed like the right thing to do after all the work and obvious effort he had put in to indulge her in all of her queries.

"OK, thanks. Night, Rae."

"Goodnight, Beast Boy. See you in the morning." Raven had walked over to her door and was just about to close it when she heard Beast Boy grabbing up their dishes. She turned around just in time to see him disappear into the darkness of the trees towards where they had setup the sink and shower. "I need to thank him for doing the dishes." And, although Raven didn't like to admit it, she liked that she was being taken care of. It made her feel better about going through with everything. Having made a mental note to thank Beast Boy after breakfast, she closed her door and laid down onto her bed to think until sleep drifted over her.

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(A/N) So, I was thinking, wouldn't it be fun if in the next chapter they actually did something instead of talk! But then I realized that that would mean work and laziness is just so much easier to achieve. I like realistic goals. Yes, future chapters will have some action in them. I'm not sure when or if there'll even be a chapter that's mostly action, but I do know that there will be some. It's already in my head, might as well write it down at some point. The next chapter may or may not have action though, and the whole romance thing, well…I kind of like them staying in character. When has Beast Boy ever actually told a girl how he felt? He never told Terra, it was just kind of understood that they liked each other. And Raven? She's the queen of emotional suppression; it'll be hard for her to even think about trying out a relationship, let alone fall full on in love with someone. Though, seeing as how they're stuck on an island together, there's a chance that something will eventually happen. Possibly. ;-)


	4. Nine in One

(A/N) Still no flames…maybe it's just me, but I kind of like the dissenting opinions. It shows me better what to work at and sometimes gives me a good laugh. Regrem Erutaerc thanks for the all the comic info. I didn't know that the rainbow brigade was in there too nor that they were much more clearly defined. As to your story ideas, some of them I already had, and the ones I didn't were good ones. But, I already know about how this is really going to go, so write the ideas into your own story, I'd like to see them done up.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Nine in One – An insight into a Raven's anatomy and an experiment involving Captain Fantabulous.

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"Thanks for doing the dishes last night, Beast Boy. I'll get the breakfast ones."

Beast Boy grinned. "Cool, thanks, Rae. When you get back I'll tell you what Robin wants us to do today."

She looked at his plate, the strange colors and textures of the food still there wasn't anything she recognized. "Why not just come with me and tell me while I'm cleaning this weird, brown stuff from your plate?"

"Hey, bean curd sausage is good!"

"How does sausage smear like it's oatmeal?"

"'Cause it's BEAN CURD, duh!" Beast Boy pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "So, are we going, or are you gonna keep playing guess the stain?"

Raven laughed her light laugh. "Alright, let's get going." After she had started heading towards the sink she asked one of the questions that she had thought up during the night. "Did Robin give us any free time at all, or is it planned out hour by hour like I think?" His smile showed her that it wasn't even close to that bad.

"Nah, all we got for today is for us to tell each other how we're thinking of doing our training and giving ideas to the each other and, then it's just me reading some stuff some time today and you have to get through your first comic without holding back any emotions, even if you have to reread it." Raven drooping her arms as she walked showed just how much she was looking forward to that part of the day's activities. "Don't worry, I picked out all the comics. They're all my absolute favorites. Only the best!"

This made her smile, even though it wasn't reading the comics that made her fret, it was unlocking her emotions.

They had reached the sink and shower, which DID have hot water a relieved Raven had told Beast Boy earlier that morning. Raven soaped up the plates and scrubbed them off. As she handed them to Beast Boy so that he could dry them she asked, "So, what's your plan for your training?"

Beast Boy looked thoughtful as he spoke. "I'm gonna do stuff like give you a stack of cards and you'll call out some type of animal and I'll change into it as quick as I can. As soon as I'm the new form, you call out another. Just trying to get the changes to happen as fast as possible and keeping my mind ready to go into any animal. Then I'll try out the animals that I read about and try out the stuff they're supposed to be good at. Just that kind of stuff till Saturday. Saturdays are when I'm going to change into…into the beast." He stammered as they started walking back to their houses.

Raven may not have liked seeing Beast Boy that uncomfortable with something, but she knew it was for the best that he face it.

"Did you have any ideas about what else I could do?"

Beast Boy looked nervous about this too, like he thought that she might deem his ideas as stupid or childish and give the obvious answers that he had missed. "Not really. What you came up with sounds pretty solid." She took a good breath before she spoke again. "So I guess you want to know what I'm gonna do then?" He nodded. "Well…first I need to talk to all of my emotions…and…I want you to come with me when I do."

"Huh? Wha…Why?" Raven hadn't mentioned Beast Boy and Cyborg accidentally ending up in her mind since it had happened. The three of them just had an understanding between them that Raven didn't want to talk about it anymore after they had told Robin. "Why do you need me there?" They were just coming up on the huts.

She looked away from Beast Boy. "Because I don't want to back out. I know what I have to do, but it kinda scares me. And, if I need help for any reason, you've been there before." She looked back over her shoulder at him. He had stopped dead in his tracks. "What, what's wrong?" His actions were making her nervous.

"Nothing, it's just…well, you've never been this upfront before. It just hit me how hard you're already trying to keep your promise about not holding stuff in. It's cool." One of his fangs poked in-between his lips with the smile he let loose.

Her smile back at him was probably the biggest since they had defeated Trigon, though instead of being mostly relief at having over come such powerful evil this smile held nothing but gratitude. "Thanks. Uh, I need to meditate for a bit and then I'll get the mirror."

"Then I'll see you in an hour."

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Beast Boy had tried so hard to get through at least one animal in his zoology text that he almost wanted to tell Raven to come back after he had finished. Instead, at hearing her knock on his door, he had marked his place and walked straight outside. "Hey, Rae. You ready?"

"Not really, but if I was totally ready we wouldn't need to do this. Come on." She led him back to her house and sat down on the floor, he followed.

"I've only done this once, and it was on accident. What do we do?" It was weird for him to be inside any place Raven called hers. She was a bit territorial when it came to wherever she slept and went to get away from people.

"Well, you just grab my hand and you'll go in when I do." She left her hand open for him to grab while she put the mirror more evenly between them. He gripped her hand and she started concentrating. Beast Boy felt himself start to rise off the floor and then a sharp pulling feeling as he and Raven were swallowed into her mirror. He had gasped in spite of his best efforts to stay calm.

They landed softly in a landscape that Beast Boy hadn't seen the last time he was there. There were pictures of all the Titans in various poses and some of the pictures were of battles they had fought or of victory celebrations. There were some of people that Beast Boy didn't know, including some of a tall looking lady wearing a white robe like Raven's whole self. "Is this your mother?"

Raven's smile was touched with sadness. "Yeah, she died while I was little. She left me ways to talk to her and see her though. Some magic that she did so that she could always be there for me in some way." Raven smiled more at the picture as a tear fell. "She was the kindest person I've ever known."

Beast Boy watched Raven as she played these memories of her mother in her mind. He hated the idea of stopping her, so he decided to wait until she told him where they were going to go from here. While Raven walked to the next picture of her mother he stared around at all the ones of the Titans. Each one, he noticed, showed one of the Titans doing something nice for her or her doing something for one of them. He tried to figure out what that meant this place was, but the only thing he could come up with was that it was one of her emotions domains. They each had one, and it didn't look like the barren waste that seemed to separate each one, so it must be one of them. "Raven, where are we?"

"You are in my realm." A purple clad Raven strode up to them, a warm smile on her face in greeting.

"So, who are you? Wait, that doesn't make sense…uhm, which feeling do you stand for?" Beast Boy wasn't sure if that was the right way to put it, but at least it sounded better than asking a differently colored Raven her name.

"She's Affection. Well…all my emotions use one word as their names, but they really represent sets of emotions." Raven had walked over to the two of them after hearing Affection answer Beast Boy's question.

Affection smiled appreciatively at Raven. "Yes, I represent the warmth one feels towards friends, loved ones, and all things which are good in the world. Like the smell of old books." Raven smiled at the thought.

"So all these pictures are people that matter to Raven?" Beast Boy pondered.

"That, or times when people have done something she feels deep gratitude for."

"So how come there aren't any pictures of things like…her favorite pizza?"

This made Affection's smile turn a few shades softer. "Because affection is tied to people, places and things are only part of my realm if they serve to remind of those people." Beast Boy still looked confusedly at her. "To explain, the smell of old books reminds Raven of her mother who taught her to read in the ancient libraries of Azarath."

Beast Boy smiled when Raven broke into their little chat. "Affection, I need to hold a full meeting. I want to do it here so that I feel comfortable."

Affection's smile turned into one that matched a painting of Raven's mother. "Of course. I will bring seats while you call the others."

Raven smiled back at Affection as she left. Her eyes closed as she brought her hood up over her head. Concentrating firmly she rose slowly into the air. A breeze started to play at the edge of her cape when several other Ravens, each wearing a different cloak floated up from the floor. They had risen in a circle around Raven and each pair of eyes focused onto her, awaiting what they had been called for.

Raven touched down and opened her eyes to see Affection floating several floor cushions towards the group. As she joined the rest the black field she had around each split and carried a cushion to each person, including Beast Boy. Raven gestured for every one of her multicolored emotions to sit in front of her and for Beast Boy to sit just off to her side. All did as she wanted and when everyone was seated she spoke. "Before we begin, Beast Boy is here to help me if any of you gets out of hand." She eyed her red clad self while saying this, Anger merely glared right back. Turning towards Beast Boy, "The red one is Anger, orange is Crass, green is Bravery, yellow is Intelligence, grey is Timid, brown is Wisdom, and pink is Happy."

"Like in Snow White." Happy giggled out.

Beast Boy couldn't help himself, so he snickered. "Good one."

"Right. And, you just met Affection over there in purple." Affection did a small wave in greeting to Beast Boy that he returned.

"How come they each have a different color robe?"

"That happened because of stuff I read about certain colors being tied to certain emotions in some books I read with my mother. My mind thought the idea made sense, so when I split off all my emotions, I subconsciously gave them the color cloak that I thought fit them best."

"Cool."

Raven stared at Beast Boy for a bit as he looked at the little crowd of Ravens. "Anyway…I wanted you all here because there's going to be some rule changes." Several of the emotions groaned at this, catching Beast Boy off guard. She must give them new rules pretty regularly, or she was just strict and they all think it's about to get worse. "These won't be changes you'll dislike." Raven took a deep, steadying breath. "I'm getting rid of all your restrictions except…" The immediate noise of all the emotions talking at once cut her off. "Wait, I'm not done…" But no one listened as they started talking to each other about all the things they were each going to try.

"Quiet!"

Everyone turned to where Beast Boy was now standing. Raven was just as shocked as the rest of her emotions at the volume and commanding inflection he had used. His stern look got the gabbing colored Ravens all looking front and center…apparently they remembered that Beast Boy was there to help make sure they behaved, though Anger still grumbled under her breath and Bravery looked like she was sizing him up.

He turned to Raven, who gawked openly at him. "Uh…You said you wanted me to help with the crowd control." His sheepish smile and nervous chuckle giving away the fact that he had surprised himself too.

Raven cleared her throat as she turned back towards the sedate group. "OK, you still have a few restrictions. First, we aren't leaving this island till we figure out how to join back together permanently or at least whenever we want to. Second, when Beast Boy goes into his primal form it'll be up to us to make sure he stays on the island and that he either gets worn out or knocked out at the end of the day so that he changes back. Third, you aren't allowed to hurt each other, Beast Boy, or me. That's it. Everything else goes. Intelligence and Wisdom will tell you guys why this is happening and why knocking out Beast Boy's one transformation doesn't count as hurting him." Raven looked limp as she sat down.

They all just kept looking from Raven to Beast Boy and back again until Raven caught it. "What is it?"

Bravery spoke first. "Are we done then? Are we allowed to go?"

"Yeah, just…the new rules don't go in effect until Beast Boy and I are back on the outside. Oh, and Anger." She looked intently at her red robed self.

"What?" was all she threw back at Raven.

Raven's gaze never flinched in even the slightest. "Trigon is gone, you're free from him. Remember that, you are fully free of him, so you only get to act according to what's real. False anger means you get locked away again, even if it's only false annoyance. You are hereby bound to truth in your expression."

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Beast Boy found himself standing in the middle of Raven's room, holding her hand still when they had gotten back out of Nevermore. Raven had told him what she called the place her emotions lived at. "That was probably the biggest mind altering experience I've ever seen in my life and there weren't even any drugs!"

"Quit making jokes and get out of my room. I want to take a nap. It took a lot out of me to do that." She was already making her way to her bad.

"That's probably a good idea. I'll make lunch while you sleep." She mumbled a thank you as he went out the door, closing it behind him. She needs another feel good meal he thought to himself.

He grabbed up all the foods he thought she might like and separated out what looked like it would go well together. A good cup of tea, of course, some of her favorite potato chips, a couple of, "Ugh", hot dogs, and a nice big apple, just a granola bar for dessert though. It would have to do. He had just finished placing it on her tray when Raven opened up her door. He smiled at her as she came to her seat. It wasn't until he did a double take that he saw she had a black cloak on that matched her leotard. "When did you get that?"

"Get what? Thanks for making me something, this looks good." She had said just before starting in on the first of her hotdogs.

He turned to grab up his lunch of twelve different kinds of fruits and vegetables that Starfire had snuck into their food supply that wouldn't last much longer. "That cloak, it's different from your other ones." He was struggling to keep everything balanced as he walked back to his seat.

"I've had this one forever. I wear it all the time…This lunch is great. It's awesome that you remembered what my favorite chips were."

He had managed to get most of the food stacked onto his tray, but he couldn't figure out how to eat it without knocking everything over…they should have packed bigger trays. "Guess I never noticed before. What are you gonna do after lunch? I got out your first comic if you wanna try that. It's Captain Fantabulous versus The Lamer." He turned to her and froze.

"I don't know what I'll do, but it'll be something fun!" Her robe was pink.

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(A/N) And thus ends another page in the life of our dear acquaintances, Raven and Beast Boy. But, what does the pink clothing portend? Is our muse of the mystic portals a nut case? Maybe…but more than likely it's just a stage in her development. The struggle is the thing though. A butterfly wouldn't be nearly as long lived if it just popped right out of it's cocoon ten seconds after it decided it had baked enough. Let me know what you think.


	5. Technicolor Teens

(A/N) To those who wonder about the next post and the like…uhm, deep breathing exercises are cool. It's just a story. Regrem Erutaerc, to answer your question…you'll have to keep reading as I update.  Sorry, it would give something away. See if you can figure it out before Beast Boy or Raven do. Please read and review, but only flame if you mean it.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Technicolor Teens – Where a green man and a rainbow woman go through the motions of a first day on the job…except the job is on an uninhabited island and the boss is several hours away.

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"Uh, Happy?"

Raven smiled up at Beast Boy, her apple half gone. "Actually, yeah, I'm feeling really good right now. It's like everything in me is saying we just did a really good thing." She frowned a little and her cloak faded into a light purple. "I still worry about things getting out of hand, but I'm not going to let it get me down." Her cloak again phased, back again to pink.

Beast Boy blanched. "…Uh…Dude, what's up with your clothes?"

"What's wrong with them? You don't like them?" Her face fell and her cloak slid straight into a solid, bland grey. "Sorry, I'll just go to my room then."

His mind was sputtering out nonsense to him. It wasn't helpful. "No, wait! I didn't mean anything like that. It's just that you keep changing colors. You look like Timid right now."

"I look like Timid?" Her cloak went black as she looked down then quickly to yellow. "Of course." She looked up to see a confused green man staring. "It's my emotions. Since they aren't restricted right now I manifest which I am experiencing by my cloak." She smiled and pink flooded Beast Boy's view. "Some people wear their hearts on their sleeves, I get to wear it like a Halloween costume!"

"So, you're still Raven, you're just feeling happy right now and that's why you're in pink?"

"And the Beast Boy is on the board, but can you answer the bonus question? How'd you know I was still Raven and not just Happy?" Her cloak went yellow again as she waited for an answer.

"Uh…I don't know." He stared at Raven for a bit trying to figure out why he could tell it was Raven. Then he saw it. "It's your leotard! It hasn't changed color, but all your emotions wore leotards that matched their cloaks!" He smiled hugely, proud for having figured it out.

"Ahh, of course. That would make a lot of sense. So I outwardly show what's happening on the inside through my cloak." She was still thinking about this when she spoke next. "So why does my leotard change colors when I'm whole?" The yellow turned dirty as soon as she had said 'whole', but it soon passed.

Beast Boy had no clue what the answer to that one was, but instead of thinking about any possible answers, he only had another question. "So why did you change to a light purple? None of your emotions wore light purple…Affection wears solid purple though."

Raven eyed Beast Boy while she calculated her response. "A mixture. I was probably feeling more than one emotion at a time and their colors mixed. Pink and grey would have made a light purple. I must have been happy, but some worry popped up that didn't stop me from being happy, just sort of put me in between the two."

"That's kinda cool actually. What colors mixed together to make your cloak black?" He asked, curiosity getting him more interested. Seeing what Raven was feeling and her not only not being able to hide it, but broadcasting it was going to be kind of cool.

"Black is the absence of color." Raven frowned as she thought this over, the dirty yellow color returning. "What does black mean? My cloak is normally blue. Shouldn't it have gone to that color when I wasn't feeling anything?"

She had said this to herself, but it made Beast Boy think too. This was going to be really strange for both of them, even scary. He frowned himself.

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Having not been able to figure out what the black cloak meant Raven had taken up Beast Boy's offer of the comic book. After she was done reading it and had written about what her emotions were doing to her in her journal they had talked about working on Beast Boy's speed changing drill. He had made a deck of three by five cards that had the names of creatures on them. He had also written brief descriptions of each on the card so that Raven would know if he had gotten the animal right.

Raven couldn't tell if this was going to boring or not, she kept feeling like it might be annoying, but her cloak never turned anything approaching red. She'd find out if this would be all that bad by the end of the half hour they had set aside. She looked at the first card as Beast Boy waited for her to call it out, his back turned to her so that he couldn't accidentally see any of the cards. "Gopher."

A really easy one first, good. Beast Boy shrunk down and chattered a little as the signal to Raven that he thought he had done it correctly.

Raven had read the card and saw that he had all the main characteristics he written for a gopher. She flipped to the next card. "Platypus." He changed. "Aardvark." He didn't change to this as quickly, but was now snuffling to show he thought he had it right. "Sheep." A change. "Chimpanzee." A change. "Frog." A change.

Beast Boy felt he was going at a decent clip when he started to notice Raven's cloak. He had gotten turned sideways some, as he had changed from one animal to the next. He tried as hard as he could to keep concentrating on what he was supposed to be turning into next, but it was hard with Raven's robe going from pink to yellow to blue and to several colors in between. He kept up the pace as best he could, but his focus was waning. He didn't normally work this hard at anything unless it was a bad guy they were fighting or unless he had a controller in his hands. As they neared a half hour he knew that he wasn't getting through his changes as quick, though he had managed to not make any mistakes.

"Beast Boy." He changed into himself.

"Whoa…" He fell onto his backside holding his head. "Ow."

A purple Raven walked over to him. "Are you OK? What happened?"

He was rubbing the sides of his head, his eyes closed. "Just…just a headache. I can't feel them when I'm an animal. Plus I went from four legs to two without really being ready for it and lost my balance."

Raven's cloak went into a peach color as she helped him to his feet. "Why don't you feel headaches when you're something else?"

He groaned as he stretched and straightened out. "It's 'cause animals don't have as many pain sensing nerves as people do. That's why I can get hit by something and change back into me and still be OK." Her cloak was changing colors again, and it irritated his headache, so he just kept his eyes closed and sat back down on the ground. "Rae? Think you could just kind of float me back to camp?" He knew she wouldn't, it was something she would think was an inappropriate use of her powers.

She stared down at the green man rubbing his temples with his eyes shut smiling about asking for a lift and she thought about why he would want it, he didn't look sore or tired, just a headache. "What is it? Too much light around?"

"Nah, you just keep going from purple to yellow and back again and it's making my eyes go funny. Too much of a color swing." He felt her drag him back to his feet.

She took his hand and put it on her shoulder. "I don't want to use my powers, but I'll help you back so that you can keep your eyes closed till we get to your room. Just follow me." Her purple cape flowed behind her as they walked.

"Thanks, Rae. I think I just need to rest for a bit. I've never done that many changes in one day, and I just did all that in a half hour." A thought struck him. "Why'd you say my name while we were doing that anyway?"

"We were done, I was trying to tell you." She looked back over her shoulder at him. "You did really well. I've never even seen you do some of those before."

He had his free hand cupped over his eyes still rubbing his forehead, but his smile could easily be seen underneath. "That was my easy set of cards. It's all the animals I either change into regularly or the ones that I used to change into at one time or another. Some of 'em were kind of new to me, but they weren't creatures I'd never seen before, just ones I'd never changed into." He laughed a little. "I've got three sets. One is what we just did. One is mostly stuff I've never done before, but that I know about. And the last one is gonna be the animals I learn about from the books Robin gave me. If I get good at this, I'm gonna just mix all three together."

"Cool, that sounds like a really good idea. You kind of made stairs that get you up to your goal." She took his hand off of her shoulder and at seeing that he was confused she said, "We're here. I made sure the lights are off. Want me to make dinner so you can sleep?"

An intense image of her last attempt at cooking flooded his mind. The 'pancakes' had been the kind of disgusting slop that only Starfire could love. "Sure, just remember to keep mine meat free." The 'pancakes' had been nuclear waste on a griddle, but she was trying to be nice to him, he wasn't going to make her feel bad by not letting her. Besides, how bad could it be when all they had was canned stuff? The darkness felt great for his sore head and he quickly fell asleep.

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"Beast Boy." Raven knocked on his door again. "Beast Boy, wake up, I've got dinner ready." She still didn't hear a single sound that meant he had heard her, so she cracked his door open. "Beast Boy?" He was still fast asleep on his bed, though he didn't look like it was peaceful. Suddenly he changed from his sleeping form to a kangaroo to an alligator to a turtle and then back into Beast Boy. He mumbled something and rolled over. As Raven moved into his room she smirked at the pile of junk that had already started to build up. His craft he had called it. When she got to his bed she shook him a little. "Beast Boy, wake up…you're dinner is…" He had rolled back over and looked up at her.

"Dinner?" He smiled in content, though sleepily as he came out from under his blanket.

Raven's purple robe deepened by several shades as she turned around and started a little hurriedly out of his little house. "Yeah, so come see if it's edible." Her cheeks felt flush. He needs to sleep with a shirt on when he knows I'm going to be coming to get him, Raven thought to herself.

Beast Boy scratched his shoulder and not feeling any clothing he looked down. He laughed, embarrassed at himself. "Guess that's why she left so quick." He quickly put his shirt back on and went out to where they usually ate dinner. Raven had just set a plate of something on his tray. He looked over at her tray and saw the same thing. He was getting used to her color shifting now, it kind of reminded him of Cyborg changing the channels all the time. "Sorry about my shirt. I just wanted to cool off." She had sat down, still not looking at him. Her cloak changed a kind of cranberry color.

"It's fine, just eat your dinner before it starts to go bad." She still hadn't looked at him.

He peered down at the plate. From his seat he could tell it was just some kind of paste. "Uh…Rae, what is this?" He may have not wanted to stop her doing something nice for him, but this stuff looked a little too strange to just dig right in.

Seeing his apprehension she smirked and added with a mischievous glint in her eye, "You'll just have to try it and find out for yourself."

Beast Boy tried looking at her cloak to see if it would help him figure out something about the weird paste dinner on his plate, but it was another mix of colors that he didn't know which of her eight emotions had come together for it. He thought it looked red, but not the blood red that anger wore. Not knowing enough about how colors mixed he turned back towards his plate. He picked up his spoon, scooped some of the food up, and smelled it. It didn't smell bad, kinda fruity with some other things mixed in. He took a taste and he felt like he was going to cry. "Where did you get humus from?"

"We had a can of garbanzo beans in the food…isn't humus just those made into a mush?" She was half done with hers.

Beast Boy looked back at her excitedly. "Yeah! Humus fruit mash! Where'd you find out how to make it? It's mostly a middle eastern food…not exactly Azarath stuff."

Raven looked down and smiled her robes fading from purple to orange. "You sure learned a lot about Azarath with all the study you've never put in." She dragged a finger across her plate to get the last of her paste into her mouth. This had been the only thing she'd ever learned how to make of her home world's food. They used different beans and fruits, but it had a real similar taste and texture. Starfire would probably think it wasn't salty or sour enough. This made her smile and her robe faded to purple again.

Feeling like he'd just been shrunk, Beast Boy had just taken to eating the good dinner and watched Raven as she flowed through different colors while her mind wandered. After he had finished licking his own plate clean and seeing that Raven was done too, He got up quickly and gathered the dishes and headed for the sink.

"Thanks, Beast Boy." She said absentmindedly as he had come by to collect her plate, spoon, and teacup. She sat there lost in her thoughts when something kind of clicked into place in her head. "Wait. Don't leave yet."

"What's up, Rae?" He watched her pace a little before she finally answered.

"We're going back into my mirror tomorrow. I want to try something new." Yellow draped over her shoulders.

"What, did you figure out what the black cloak meant?"

"No."

"Then you know why your leotard doesn't change colors?"

"No." Her red cape gave Beast Boy the hint that he was annoying her by bringing up things that she hadn't figured out yet.

"OK, just tell me when you're ready." He figured backing out of the questions totally would be the safest thing he could do for himself. Raven angry wouldn't be anything he wanted even with Trigon gone.

She looked over to him. "I just think that it will help me to ask each of my emotions what they want and to find out what they know that I might not." She folded her arms; it wasn't as big a deal as she had felt it was originally. "I think some of them might not be telling me things."

"You mean like they're suppressing themselves?" This was a really strange idea, but it made sense because it was Raven. Just like she was really all of them together, they were her, in part at least. They would have the same thinking process she did, just colored by the emotion they were.

Raven stared off into space. They were repressing themselves. Each of them was keeping themselves in check for some reason or other. She needed to find out why. She looked over at Beast Boy who had gone back to gathering up the rest of the dishes they hadn't cleaned earlier. Tomorrow. We'll do it tomorrow after some sleep. Sleep sounded really good right now. "Beast Boy!" She called out to him in the dark.

His reply came from beyond the light of the fire. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to bed. See you in the morning." She trudged off to her bed.

"Night, Rae."

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The sun needs to be shot for being this bright, Raven thought as she pulled her curtains more tightly closed. It was too early. Beast Boy would still be asleep and she would have to start the fire herself. She was grumpy from having a bad night's 'rest' where dreams only made her wake up enough to forget what she was dreaming but enough that she would have to fall back asleep. It also didn't help that when she had opened her window during the night to let in the cool air that that same window faced due east and caught the sun's first rays at too early in the morning. She decided to just go out and get things started.

Beast Boy waved a jovial good morning to Raven as she came out of her hut. "Want some breakfast? I made you some eggs and toast 'cause I wasn't sure what you liked besides your tea." He handed her the cup and went back to coring and peeling the apples that he was going to have with his own toast.

Still feeling grumpy she just accepted what was given to her and plopped down into her chair. She eyed her eggs and toast and chose to just munch on a piece of toast while she drank her tea…if more of an appetite hit her then she would eat some of the eggs. She looked over at Beast Boy who was happily eating the peels of his apples like it was spaghetti. "Why are you so happy?" She may have said it with annoyance in her voice, but she felt envious that he could be in such a good mood while she felt crummy.

"Had dreams about running last night." She eyed him incredulously. "Seriously! Some people have dreams about flying that make them feel like this the next morning, I have dreams about running. Running as fast as I can without worrying about running into anything. Running like I did in Africa. I don't get to just run like that…somebody put a city in my way." He giggled at his joke, hoping Raven would too. She looked like she was having one of her bad days…the kind where Anger had woken up first.

She did smile, but it looked like a tired smile to Beast Boy.

"Didn't get much sleep, huh?"

"Nope. And it was dreams that were waking me up, but I can't remember any of them which is even more frustrating." She pouted at not being able to pull up something that had been strong enough to snap her out of sleep. She saw Beast Boy staring at her out of the corner of her eye. "What?" She snapped out.

He smiled like he always did when he didn't want to get in trouble with her. "Nothing. Just, how come you don't date? I remember you going off with that guy at that club Blackfire took us to, but nothing else like that."

She closed her eyes to keep them from showing her surprise. "Why would you want to know about my dating life?"

"I don't know, just always thought guys would ask you out, but you don't seem to go out much except to that café with the poetry and stuff."

She opened her eyes and looked at him, but he only looked like he really didn't understand why she chose not to date. "We're kind of busy a lot of the time. Hectic schedules don't make for good relationships. Besides, I was worried about my powers too much to really date. I would just talk to guys at the café and then turn them down if they asked me out. I've kind of got a reputation there as a tease." She smiled in spite of herself, her cloak shifting from the red it had been to pink. She liked that she could be thought of as playing with the boys. It made her feel like she wasn't just scared of herself, but that she had a reputation that she liked since it allowed her to be like she wanted to be. Friendly with the opposite sex, and let it end there.

He was glad Raven was smiling now. "That makes sense. You were always doing the same thing with all of us at first. Friends, but by your rules so it would be safer for everybody. I guess that's why I always try to make you laugh or smile. You give up a lot of fun so that you feel others are safe around you."

"Anyway, enough about my self sacrificing nature. We need to get started since it'll probably take a while. I want to talk to each emotion individually. Come on, Beast Boy."

He liked when she wore pink. She was always so much more relaxed. She'd been overstressed for most of her life. She deserved the break. "I'm coming'." He answered and he scampered up to her door.

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(A/N) OK, show of hands, how many people thought it would end after they both had said goodnight? I don't know why, but I wanted them to have their morning together in this chapter. Made it longer, but I'll live with it. Look for days to pass more quickly after Saturday…Saturday in the fic, not real life. Think of this first week that they're on the island as the comfort week. They still have canned food and other amenities, but they'll run out eventually. I'm going to have fun with that…any of you who have camped for longer than two nights will understand. And, to wet your whistles, I'll give you a peak at something. I'm going to either have black-cloaked Raven explained, or have the beast's first night out next chapter. Depends on my mood.


	6. What Color is a Raven?

(A/N) I wanted to thank everybody who's read this and I also wanted to thank the people who had written up something on it all. OveractiveMind, very nice imagery with the whole tie-dye thing. And, lol61188, yes, you can always hope that I'll eventually make this more officially a BBxRae fic. Anyway, I was thinking about how this coming chapter would progress and I think that everyone will not know what's going to happen until they read it. It's not that I'm all that creative; it's just a logical conclusion. None of you are in my head. ;-) Besides, you wouldn't want in my head. I haven't cleaned in there in years, and I have a really strange filing system that seems to only make sense to me.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – What Color is a Raven? – A tale of woe…no, wait. I meant, a tale of 'whoa!' for Raven and Beast Boy. I got help with this chapter from Keanu Reeves.

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Raven and Beast Boy were seated on the floor, back in front of her mirror. She had taken his hand and bowed her head in concentration when they were again pulled into Nevermore.

"That is one of the weirdest feelings ever." Beast Boy said as he wobbled in place still holding on to Raven's hand.

After he had steadied himself Raven let go. "Come on. I think Affection's area is the best place to do this." She started walking towards the archway they were closest too.

"How come we didn't end up inside her place like last time?" He puzzled looking around at the barren area they were in.

"Since I gave them more freedom, I'm going to give them more respect too and ask to come in this time. Since she's me, she won't keep me out, but respecting my emotions is one of the things that I think will help in my training." She came up to the archway and laid her hand on it. The stones glowed from within briefly and then Raven stepped back and waited.

After a moment Affection came through the portal smiling kindly at them. "Hello, what is it you would like from me?"

"I need to talk to each of you guys one on one and I would like to use your domain for that." She stated plainly.

Watching the two of them talk Beast Boy noticed Raven was once again in the black cloak. "You're back in black, Raven." He had said while Affection was stepping to the side, giving them an inviting gesture.

Raven looked down quickly and saw that she was indeed in black. It had been the first time that she had been able to see the color on her for more than just a quick glimpse.

"So what emotion are you feeling? If you can figure out what it is, you'll know why you're in that color." Beast Boy had thought it might be some mix of Timid and some other dark colors.

Raven looked back up to Beast Boy. "But…I'm not feeling anything." Her cloak suddenly went through several different colors and shades and mixtures in rapid fire.

Beast Boy was sure that yellow, red, brown, and grey had been in the sudden flash, but he wasn't sure if there were other base emotions at play with the color changing too quickly for him to even guess at what had made each of them. "Rae?" He paused; she was looking at the edges of her cape with obvious anxiety. "I think you need to clam down."

Affection placed an arm around Raven and pulled Raven's head onto her shoulder. She started humming some tune that Beast Boy hadn't heard before. Her voice wasn't anything spectacular, but it was good enough to make the melody pleasant. Raven's cloak stopped changing colors and slowly became a vibrant blue that Beast Boy had never seen before.

"That's a cool color. What's that one mean?"

Raven left Affections embrace and looked down. She smiled. "It's blue and purple mixed."

"So it's your normal cloak color with a little bit of Affection in it?" He looked back and forth between the two who had very similar smiles now as they looked at Beast Boy.

"She was humming a song my mother used to sing when I was real little. It's always calmed me down." She smiled at Affection who gave a light nod of her head.

"Shall we go into my domain that you may begin speaking with each of us?" Again the welcoming gesture as she stood back at the archway. Raven walked forward and went through, Beast Boy following behind her.

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They were seated on the floor cushions near the pictures of Raven's mother. Affection faced them, awaiting Raven's questions. "OK, this isn't going to be some long interrogation, it's just a couple of questions I want you to answer without any influence from the others." Affection nodded her head at these words. "Good, well, first thing. What can I do so that you and I become permanently fused? Every time I merge with you all, it eventually crumbles."

Affection smiled warmly. "I am glad that you seek this. The main things that I believe will help you in this goal will be accepting me fully. Accept that you love and accept the love of others." At Beast Boy's look of confusion she smiled again. "I am Affection, Beast Boy. Love is part of my commission. As well as are things like gratitude, kindness, and passion." She turned back towards Raven. "You accepting that these things can come from you or be given to you will help you in your quest to rejoin that which was broken."

Raven smiled shyly at her words, her vibrant blue cloak turning to a purple deeper then even Affection's. "Alright, I think I can do that. Uhm, next question. Why aren't you expressing more fully through me? I'm feeling all my emotions, and letting them just happen, but nothing all that powerful has hit yet."

"I am unsure of how to really do such things. I have not been permitted to have full freedom since you were very little. I do not remember how to fully express into you what you are feeling." She smiled comfortingly at Raven's look of discomfort. "I am only out of practice. Do not worry that I will be permanently bound by my lack of ability. You will feel my influence more and more as I become reacquainted with this task."

Raven visibly calmed and went back to the vibrant blue color. "Thank you. Just one more question, do you know what it means when my cloak goes black?"

"I am afraid that I do not. I am sorry."

Raven felt that that was going to be the answer. "Thanks for answering my questions, Affection. Would you ask Anger to come here for me?"

Affection stood gracefully. "Certainly." And with that, she had slipped through the floor.

"Why'd you want Anger next? I would have asked her to come last."

Beast Boy's idea had merit, but Raven thought her plan would be easier in the long run. "I'm getting through the more difficult emotions first so that the other ones will make me feel better so that I'm in a good mood when we're done. Last thing I want is Anger getting under my skin right before I head off into the rest of today's work."

"What work? I thought you were done after this except for maybe another comic."

"I was reading that book on making tea, and I have to start drying the leaves now if I want them ready by the time my tea packets run out."

"Oh. Want some help later then?"

She smiled at him. "Sure, it makes it easier on me."

"What do you want with me?" Anger had arrived.

Raven sighed, turning towards the emotion that had just arrived, and tried to ready herself for the resistance she knew she was going to get from this interview. "Just a few quick questions. I need your opinion on some stuff."

"'Bout time you actually asked me about something. So, what is it?" Anger seemed to refuse to sit down and only stood in front of Raven with her arms crossed.

A sigh came out of Raven and Anger looked annoyed with it. "How do we join back together permanently?" Short questions for the short temper, Raven thought to herself.

"Do what you told me to do. Be honest about it when you're mad. Every time you push me down, you're blocking that from happening. You don't have to break anything, just admit it to yourself." Raven's look made her scowl. "It's what I want too! I don't want to be stuck in this waste! I want to be back where I was, so stop looking like I just tried to do you a favor or something."

Raven's cloak had gone red as well. "Fine. Why aren't I blowing up like that when I'm annoyed or angry? Lost your touch from being locked out so long? Or is it because you don't have help anymore?" Raven didn't know why she was trying to pick a fight with Anger, but she was tired of always backing down from her.

Anger looked furiously at Raven. "SHUT UP! What do you care? You sit there, getting to actually be alive while I get stuck living inside your messed up head and only get to 'suggest' what you should do when stuff happens that gets you mad, like when Starfire tries to curl your hair when you don't want to! And…" She looked like pure red fury. "He's YOUR father. The only reason he could do what he did was because you let him! Coward!"

Raven looked close to tears when she heard Beast Boy yell. "Stop it! Leave her alone!" He had jumped to his feet. "She's trying to give you what you want if you'd just stop trying to bully her!"

"And what are you gonna do, Beast Boy?" She looked at him mockingly.

Rather than answer her he had changed into a gigantic spider. The webbing he shot out quickly had Anger bound head to toe. Beast Boy set her sitting on the cushion and flowed back into his normal form. "You're gonna sit there till Raven's done with her questions." He moved his face close to hers. "And I know that you can't get out of that. Only Raven has control of her powers. You only made her lose her control, you never had it yourself." He stomped away from the livid emotion and flopped back down into his own seat, glaring at Anger with his arms crossed.

Raven had just watched the strange scene unravel. It had shocked her to see Beast Boy taking charge again. She had been ready to tell Anger to just leave when he had his outburst. She looked slowly from him to Anger. "I probably deserved some of what you said." Anger's face snapped back towards Raven's. "But…I don't deserve it like that." She took a few deep, cleansing breaths. "So why haven't I gotten all that upset at anything?"

Anger looked acidly from Raven to Beast Boy and back again. "I don't know how to make you feel it with things like this. There used to be this feeling that we were connected directly to you in some way, but now it feels like that connection isn't there. We can still get the message out, but it's harder now. Like we have to yell instead of using the phone." Anger had looked grumpy about having to be subjected to this, but Beast Boy was right. She'd never had control; she didn't know how to really get Raven to do anything without the connection that she had used in the past.

"The last questions really short. Do you know what it means when my cloak turns black?"

"No." She fumed. This was maddeningly frustrating. Being forced to be civil with the person who had ripped her out of life and set her in a cage.

Raven sighed. "Let her go, Beast Boy."

He stood and walked over to the prone figure. Changing himself into a badger, he bit through the thick webbing that had Anger bound. Beast Boy morphed back into himself as Anger stood. She glared at Beast Boy and he only returned her stare. She looked like she wanted to punch him so badly, like she wanted to tear him apart. Instead she turned her back on them. Just before she had finished phasing through the floor she looked at Raven maliciously. "Why don't you tell him your little secret? I'll bet he'd get a big kick out of it." With that she was gone. Raven only stared angrily at the spot of floor she had gone through. Beast Boy just went back to his seat.

"Don't worry about what she said. In fact, you shouldn't tell me, she wants us to fight because we put her in her place." Beast Boy's eyes had locked with Raven's. He could tell that she wanted to say whatever the secret was just to show Anger that she could. "You don't need to prove anything."

She was glad he was trying to help. It had been a good idea to bring him. "I don't need to prove it to her, but I should tell you anyway. I should tell you because you're my friend and you're helping me in some pretty intense ways. I want to trust you with my other secrets…I need to respect my emotions, and a lot of them tell me to treat my friends better."

"Raven. I saw that Anger had left and brought you Timid." Affection stood a few steps behind the two people seated on the ground, Timid peaking out from behind her.

"Thank you." She closed her eyes and just breathed for a few seconds. "Beast Boy?"

He turned from Timid and Affection to her. "S'up, Rae?"

She looked firmly into his eyes. "I do want to tell you that secret, but we need to finish here first. I want you to promise that you'll help me remember."

"I promise."

"Good." She looked back at Timid, a smiling Affection ushering her to the cushion. "Please sit down Timid. I just want to ask you some questions."

Timid only looked around nervously and nodded her head as she sat. "You're not going to yell at me too, are you?"

Raven smiled softly. "No. Just some questions, and there aren't any wrong answers."

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Raven was getting tired. The interviews had all been almost exactly the same. Each emotion had colored it their own way, but the three answers were always the same. Be honest with the giving and taking of the emotion she wanted to join back with, the way they fed Raven her emotions had changed and they weren't used to it yet, and no, they had no idea what a black colored cloak could mean.

So it had not been a strong shock when in the final interview, Intelligence being interviewed, that the answers sounded familiar. "You will not have trouble joining back with me when the time comes. You already accept facts from within and from without."

"I had figured it might be something like that, but why haven't we already joined back together?" She said rubbing the side of her head.

Intelligence just simply stated, "Because there is an order things must be done in."

"Do you know the order?" Raven looked doubtfully over to her yellow clad clone.

"No, I merely know that I am not to be first." Raven just slouched in response to this. "Though I do have a theory." Even Beast Boy's head perked up at that. He had been so bored because he hadn't been needed for anything after Anger had left and other than a few words in greeting from some of the other emotions, he hadn't been included in anything else.

"Well, what's your theory?" Raven asked a little impatiently.

Intelligence adjusted her glasses. "I believe that the order will be determined by color. The first emotion you must join with will be the one closest to your base color and then through the related order from there till the color closest to white is added, being last."

"So what color comes after blue out of all of you?" Raven looked eagerly at Intelligence.

"I suppose the order would go from grey to blue to purple."

Raven looked at Intelligence quizzically. "So which do I do first? Grey or purple?"

Intelligence cocked an eyebrow. "I am afraid you have misunderstood. It makes sense for the order in which you should proceed to be thus: brown, orange, yellow, green, grey, blue, purple, red, and then pink. This will bring you in a sort of spiral through the colors from your base color to the end goal of white."

"But blue IS my normal color!" Raven was getting annoyed with her smart side's answers, which only answered questions as they had been asked, and nothing more.

"You are mistaken."

This was infuriating. "Alright then, know-it-all. What's the right answer then?"

Intelligence smiled coolly. "The typical color of a raven is black." Raven's face went slack and Intelligence decided that there was no more logical way to finish this than to just proceed as though the questions had already been asked. Besides, she really did know what questions would be asked. "When you shattered yourself in an attempt at freeing yourself from the influence of Trigon you kept one of us bonded with you. You were too young at the time to fully comprehend what you were doing, but I, being free from the confusion of the others was not blind to it. You latched on to the blue clothed one of us as a further security effort against our father. The reason all of us have had a more difficult time reaching the outside with our efforts is that you let go of this security when you lightened the rules you had placed over us. This security was the only one of us bonded with you and we were working through her to broadcast our efforts. Without her, we have struggled since we are not bonded with you, nor do we have one who can give us a way to tune in on where to send our corresponding emotions. And, the blue represents…"

"Serenity." Raven's face was still empty as she toiled against the flood of thoughts and feelings that she was awash in. "How could I be so stupid? Of course I would have shoved down memories with all the emotions I've been avoiding!" She pressed her hands against her forehead.

"That you have. Serenity has been a good ally to you, though you have abused your connection to her at times, allowing yourself to remain calm and detached in spite of pleas from us to you about things we felt were important enough to take the risk." Intelligence was not trying to be mean, she was just stating facts.

"Why haven't I seen Serenity before?"

"She was at one with you for a very long time, so it was only since yesterday morning that you would have had the opportunity to do so, and you had said our rule changes did not go in effect until you and Beast Boy had returned from here. Also, she is Serenity. She is the part of you perpetually at peace. She does not feel the need to seek you out as we often do. She feels you will seek her, and that is only supported by the facts that you do that very thing."

Raven stood. "I want to talk to her. Where is she?"

Intelligence stood as well. "I will take you to her realm as you have never been there."

Raven started off after her yellow doppelganger. "Wait for me!" Beast Boy had been dumb struck hearing all the things that Intelligence had had to say so that he didn't notice when they had started to leave because of how deep in thought he had been.

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Serenity looks exactly like Raven when she's meditating Beast Boy thought. Raven looked like she was having the weirdest day of her life. Beast Boy could see the internal tug-o-war she was having. She hated it with a passion whenever someone would interrupt her own meditation, but she needed to talk to this blue robed Raven. In the end, logic helped her out of her problem by her realizing that Serenity would be calm no matter what.

She walked up to the gently floating girl. "I need to talk to you."

Her eyes opening slowly, Serenity touched down and just looked at Raven and waited.

Thinking that this was her invitation she started, "I need you to tell me how to bond permanently with an emotion."

"Bond with it and resist all things which seek its departure." She replied languidly.

"But, how do I bond with it?"

"You have done it before." Her eyes drifted from Raven towards Beast Boy. She looked deeply into him. "I have wanted to tell you that you are a great benefit to me." Beast Boy just gaped at her. "Raven has had much comfort and peace because of your efforts to help her. I thank you."

His mind caught hold of the easiest to understand part of what she had said. "Uhm, your welcome?"

Raven was annoyed about being ignored. "I may have done it before, but I don't remember how."

Serenity turned back towards Raven. "You must merge with the emotion and refuse to let it part from you as you did with me. You held us bonded for all of these years even though it is Wisdom that must be first to make you whole."

Raven thought about this as Serenity walked over to Beast Boy. "You are a calming influence. I am glad that you have escorted Raven through all of this. Do not let Anger confuse you, you are doing right." With that Serenity went back to her meditation.

"Come on, Beast Boy. I think it's time to go."

"'K"

Intelligence watched the two of them leave. "Why does Beast Boy calm Raven?"

"Because tranquility is found in the repetition of good things. He seeks for her to be happy. His continued effort has therefore become calming to her." She had not even opened her eyes.

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(A/N) Yeah, I knew it was going to be about the black cloak too. How many of you figured it out though? And, I mean before you'd read any of this chapter. I realize full well that I'm stepping away from what is considered cannon in some aspects, but they make sense to me. Raven is able to achieve her white form, but not hold on to it. Her emotions act as separate creatures from herself though they are contained within her. It's the ultimate split personality. Beast Boy though is more the classic split personality type. When one is active the other is asleep. The main personality typically not remembering the other's actions. Very cool stuff. I wish I had extra personas!


	7. A Changed Man

(A/N) Thanks for pointing out that I forgot Timid in my color order, Regrem Erutaerc. I've updated chapter six so that it's fixed. I could barely sleep last night. Don't know why, but my body decided four hours was plenty and kept trying to get me out of bed. My brain fought back, thinking four hours couldn't possibly be enough, and started making up dreams about how this chapter might go. In the end, my brain only made my body more anxious to get out of bed and write down what I had thought up in my attempt at going back to sleep. So, here I am writing in the morning instead of late at night when I wrote most everything else. Wish I could have this kind of outpouring of ideas with something original…but, alas, that isn't the case right now, so I'll just keep writing this.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – A Changed Man – Wherein Raven exposes herself and then asks Beast Boy to do the same.

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Beast Boy stood up from Raven's floor and helped her to her feet. "That was pretty intense in there. You feeling OK?" He stared at her in concern.

"I'm alright." She said, rubbing her tired eyes. "I just want to eat and then take a nap. We'll train later."

Beast Boy's stomach let out an approving grumble at the thought of food. He laughed. "Guess I could go for something right now too."

Raven started to walk out her door, but stopped, staring out at something that Beast Boy couldn't see. "What is it?"

She turned around and gave him half a laugh. "The sunset."

"What! How long were we in there?" His jaw had bounced off the floor and shut again on the rebound.

"I'd guess, maybe, seven hours. We did have to wait a long time for Crass to show up, and you tying up Anger took some time, and Bravery wouldn't stop bragging, and then there was going to see Serenity. Guess it all just added up." She looked longingly at her bed. "Let's just eat something and go to bed."

"Uh, Rae? If it's OK, I'm just gonna stay up for a bit…it's not like we have to have the same bedtime." He said with a sly smirk.

Raven stared at him. "Oh, yeah. Uhm, OK. I guess I was just getting into the habit of us doing the same thing all the time. Guess my head trip wasn't as draining on you."

"Head trip!" He laughed. "That's pretty funny."

She hadn't caught the joke herself when she said it. "Yeah." She chuckled. "It is. Anyway, lets eat something."

"'K, I'll make it." He laughed again to himself. I can't believe I'm so awake that I'm gonna stay up and read.

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The new day dawned and Raven was feeling much better with all the sleep she had gotten. She had remembered to keep her shades closed this time too, so the sun hadn't woke her before she wanted to get out of bed. She made more of the fruit humus for breakfast since it was the only thing she knew how to make out of the food that they had left. Beast Boy had even asked for seconds.

They decided that they needed to make up for the previous day's missed training and spent the morning reading to do the 'homework' Robin had given them. And, after lunch they were going to help each other in their goals for the day.

Raven had thought that the best thing she could do was to start getting to know Wisdom better since she was supposed to merge with her first. Beast Boy again accompanied her into her mirror and kept himself amused talking with Happy while Raven and Wisdom sat in discussion. The trip was uneventful, but Raven felt it was a good first step, especially since now she knew which direction to go.

They were going to do Beast Boy's shape shifting exercise after dinner because they both thought he would have a whomping headache after an hour of it. Raven was still trying to talk him down to half an hour, but he wouldn't have it.

"I told you, Rae, I need to get caught up!" He knew she was just trying to keep him from having too much pain, but it was starting to annoy him. "I don't want to slack off! That's what everyone thinks I'm gonna do, and I'm not gonna let them be right."

Raven sighed at his stern look. "I just don't think you should beat yourself up when nobody gave us a schedule. It's supposed to be at our own pace."

His stern look holding in place he said, "It's the pace I set. I need to keep it for myself, even if it means I'll be uncomfortable. It's just a headache. Besides…" His face softened and he looked slightly sad. "I think it's time I stopped being the flake of the group, let somebody else do it."

Raven's argument crumbled in front of her eyes. Pain was inevitable in growth she mused. I'll be going through some too. "OK, but you're going straight to bed even if it's the tiniest of headaches."

He smiled warmly at her. "Deal." Her deep purple cloak, Happy had told him it was Affection and Timid, was one of his favorite colors to see. It meant she was worried about someone she cared for.

With the bargain struck, they walked into the clearing to have room for whatever Beast Boy was going to change into. Raven looked at the stack of cards and they started. He's getting faster she thought as he went from a gnat to an anteater to a blue whale. As the hour ticked closer to it's end she was having trouble keeping up because of the animals she didn't recognize, which in turn made her have to stop to read what the card said about them. She had just finished confirming that he had gotten a grouse right and pulled up the next card. "Wildebeest." He changed, but it wasn't into a four-legged creature. Instead, he looked like a cross between a large man and the animal he was supposed to be turning into…no, he looked like a large man that she knew. He looked exactly like…

"You look like Wildebeest, wait, I mean like the guy Wildebeest!" She couldn't believe her eyes. "You can change into people!" It had finally dawned upon her.

Suddenly he was Beast Boy again. "Rae, wait! Don't tell! I don't want Ro…" His vision went blurry as the pain savagely struck. "Ow." He laughed slightly at his lack of outward reaction to his head feeling like it had cracked open and promptly blacked out, collapsing to the ground.

Raven rushed forward. "Beast Boy? Beast Boy! Wake up! What just happened?" She felt panicked and unsure of what to do when she felt Wisdom's influence strongly. Beast Boy was soon being levitated back to his room, Raven walking quickly just ahead of him.

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"Ugh…I feel like Cyborg just used my head as a trampoline." His head was still throbbing, but his forehead felt cool and slightly wet. He finally opened his eyes and saw Raven asleep sitting in a chair near the foot of his bed her head resting on her arms near his feet. He tried to look around for a clock only to remember that he didn't have one. "Uh, Raven?" She only lightly stirred. "Raven? Raven, wake up." She cracked an eye open.

"I told you an hour was too much." She was still groggy from the little bit of sleep she had gotten, but not so much that she couldn't tell him off a little. "You blacked out because of how bad it was. That's more than just a typical headache."

His eyes closed again, releasing him from her intense stare and from the light that the moon brought in. "I know, but I need to go through this or I'll always be limited. You had to go through a lot worse stuff before you beat Trigon." He didn't need to see her to know that she didn't like it when he was smart in an argument.

She sat up more fully in her chair. "Maybe, but that doesn't mean that you have to do something to try and match it. Everybody doesn't have to go through the same amount of pain."

"Yeah, but we've taken on a little more than most. If we really want to do this hero thing, then being heroic, even in our training, is the way it's gotta be." He smiled and opened his eyes to look at her reaction. She was pouting again. He liked the look of her pouting.

Her arms crossed, she just continued to try and think of a way to get around the defense of his actions. Not seeing any she only pouted more. "You're taking it easy tomorrow. You can do your drill, but you're doing the easiest changes."

He closed his eyes and smiled in victory. "I can do that. You know, you can go to bed now. Your own bed'll probably be more comfortable than that chair."

He's gloating! "Fine." She stood up and marched to the door.

"Thanks for helping me, Rae. I'm glad you were there."

She turned back around and caught the kindest smile that Beast Boy could manage. "The water bowl is right next to your bead if you need to get the towel wet again. It'll help with your head." She made to leave again, this time more sedately when she heard his voice.

"Night, Rae."

"Goodnight, Beast Boy."

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As Beast Boy stared at the pancakes that Raven had made he imagined that what he felt like must be how a hangover feels. The pancakes though were a huge improvement on Raven's last attempt. Not nearly as good as Cyborg's, but they could hold their own and the fruit on top was really tasty since it was the first of the fresh fruit they had gotten from the island's natural growing fruit trees. He had taken in another mouthful of food as Raven sat down.

"I guess this means they're OK this time." She watched him nod as he crammed another large bite into his mouth. "Let me tell you what I've got planned today. It'll be easier to do this now since you can't interrupt with your mouth full like that."

Beast Boy tried to say 'huh' and only proceeded in nearly choking. Swallowing as best he could, he gave in to a small coughing fit and quickly drank some water to try and calm everything down.

Raven continued. "Right…we'll do the whole reading thing like normal this morning, but we're going to do your morphing exercise first this afternoon. That way you can take a nap if you need it before tonight."

"What happens tonight?" He had just finished chewing and was able to get the question out before shoveling in the next bite of apple and pancake.

"I told you that I wanted to tell you that secret that Anger talked about. I kind of wanted to do that tonight, but there's a catch." Seeing the question in his eyes since his mouth was too full to say it she said, "I've been thinking, and you've had four trips into my head and I don't even know half as much about you as you got from just your first visit to Nevermore."

It always sounded weird to him to hear her call the place in her head by name. "You mean you want to know about me?" He had finished the last of his food and had just been listening to her.

"I thought it would only be fair with how much you know about me."

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Beast Boy's nap hadn't really been necessary, but he wanted the time to collect his thoughts before their talk that night. Feeling as rested and ready as he thought he could get he came out of his room and walked over to the fire that Raven had made. She had moved their chairs closer together and turned them some so that they faced each other more.

"Good nap?" She said in an effort to get the conversation started in a more casual manner.

He stretched himself out as full as he could and let out a long "Yeah." Sitting down he saw that she was fidgety. "I still think it's OK if you don't tell me."

She stiffened her resolve and pressed forward. "No. I want you to know. Anger was just upset at me for not having told you sooner." She gathered up a little more courage as she watched him waiting for her to go on. "I've been kind of spying on all the Titans. Not for some bad guy or anything like that!" She added quickly, thinking what he might have concluded by what she said. "It's just that…I can read minds…well, more like, emotions and I do that a lot around all you guys. I do it when I'm nervous about something or if one of you looks like something bad is happening or if I'm bored…"

"You read our, uhm, emotions when you're bored?" She nodded. "That's kind of funny." He said with a smile.

She looked quickly at him. "You're not mad?"

"Why should I be? Robin has most of the tower bugged, except for our bedrooms and the bathrooms, Cyborg has digitally enhanced ears, and I kinda change into some insect whenever I want to do something like that. I think Starfire is the only one who doesn't eavesdrop on anybody." He had looked away from her while admitting his own snooping, but his embarrassment didn't last since hers had been so much more in depth than anything they could pull off.

"So everybody is spying on everybody else?" Beast Boy grinned. "Guess that's what we get rooming with a bunch of busybody super heroes." Raven stated sarcastically.

"I think that being a busybody is part of the job qualifications."

She felt relieved. Time to press on though. "Good, then you won't mind all the questions I'm about to ask you." She knew her little change in topic was corny, but he liked corny humor, maybe he wouldn't mind.

She had pulled out a little set of cards from some pocket inside her robe when Beast Boy's imagination got the better of him.

"It's the Island Show with Raven Roth!" Audience applauses can be heard; a stage with a multicolored curtain is seen as a theme song plays. "Starring, Raven Roth!" Several cuts of Raven sitting at a desk with various people are shown next. "Featuring the Teen Titan Players!" A band consisting of Starfire on keyboards, Robin on bass, Cyborg on drums, and all the emotion Ravens with various brass and woodwind instruments is shown as they continue playing the theme song that is the background to this introduction. "Tonight's guests are Beast Boy, Bumblebee, and Meg Ryan!" A few pictures of each person is shown as their names are said. "And now, heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Raven!" She walks out onto stage in her normal attire.

"This is some weird, wild stuff." She says in a completely toneless voice.

He started laughing and only stopped because he saw that Raven was giggling too. Raven was giggling? "You just saw that, didn't you?"

She calmed down and looked up at him, still smiling larger than she normally would have, pink firmly in place on her cloak. "Uhm, yeah…that was…pretty funny." She was glad she had seen that, it let her know that he was relaxed.

"OK, then what's your first question? And why do you need those cards?"

"The cards are so I don't forget anything, I didn't have Robin to help me memorize all this." She looked at the first card and let her mind reword the question so that it would sound natural. "What's the role that Robin thinks I fill in the Titans?" Why did it need to sound natural? He already knows I have these cards, she thought.

"I wondered when you'd ask that. Robin told me you're supposed to help us be less immature. He said you would do that by getting mad at us when we went too far."

"Makes sense." The yellow cloak let Beast Boy know that she was trying to take in his answers just intellectually. "OK, that's it for the easy ones." Beast Boy didn't feel so relaxed any more. "Why don't you date? You asked me, gotta hit you with your own question."

"Uh…" Relaxed was gone completely. "Well…I just, sort of don't get real chances." He saw that she was waiting for a more complete answer. "OK, so Cyborg and I go out to clubs and we hang out with girls, but they either want to date just because I'm a Titan or they won't date me…they laugh at my jokes, and we talk, but as soon as I ask them to some place…I think it's my skin."

Her cloak faded to a soft red. "I'm sorry about that. We'll just go to the next question. How did you change into Wildebeest?"

"I can become any animal I can picture in my head. People are animals too." He looked her in the eye. "You can't tell Robin. He'd think we could use it in some way. Like going undercover or something. And then, he would just be disappointed by it not working 'cause I still can't change my color."

"You can change into anybody? Anybody at all?" This was strange. Beast Boy normally liked to show what he could do with his powers. Why all the secrecy about being able to change into people?

"Yeah, but I don't like changing into girls…it's too weird." He smiled a little at this.

"Sometimes I wish I didn't have to be a girl either. There definitely are some downsides." She hoped this would cheer him up some.

Beast Boy smirked. "I don't mean that I don't like being a girl…sure it's weird, but not nearly as weird as changing into a girl. The changing is…uncomfortable." He looked embarrassed.

"What do you mean? Why would the changing be any different than any other time?"

He thought for a moment. He didn't want to be crude about it. "Well…imagine if a part of you turned inside out so that you could change into a guy." He was determinedly avoiding her eyes.

Raven only had to think about what he meant for a second before she felt her cheeks go crimson. "Oh."

"Yeah." He looked up to her again. "So don't tell Robin, OK?"

"Not a problem. I don't think I'd be comfortable with that either." Her blush was finally fading as she went to her next question. "When were you in Africa?"

"Uh…my parents were there when I was a little kid. I got sick out there and they used an experimental method to make me better, but it changed me." He looked a little lost in his thoughts as he spoke.

"That's how you got your powers?"

"Yeah. Kind of weird powers though. Nobody else has been able to copy it."

"Scientific fluke?" She liked hearing his story…it made her feel that they were getting onto even footing after everything he'd seen about her.

Beast Boy frowned. "I don't think my powers come from science. I think it might be some kind of magic."

"Magic?" She smiled; it was just like him to come up with a more 'out there' idea than what it probably was, but she wanted to hear this. "Why magic?"

He looked up at the skepticism in her face. "I'm serious!" Not seeing any change in her expression he sighed. "Just think about it, Rae. I can change into any animal I can picture in my head." He started counting off his points on his hand. "I can change my mass." Raven look cock-eyed at him. "My weight. Science says that you can't make something weigh more than it really is. But I can. I can go from a little gnat that doesn't weigh an ounce to a blue whale that weighs several tons. Science says that that's supposed to be impossible. I can mend my bones just by shifting from some form and back again. That's why I never have any with all the times I get slammed into something. I still know who I am and can think like normal no matter how big the brain in the thing is in the thing I changed into." Raven was becoming a lot more convinced. "My clothes disappear too. They don't rip or anything, they just kind of go away when I change and come back when I'm me again. And, I can do all of this by instinct. I never had to learn how my powers worked, they just work when I want them to."

Raven was stunned. "Wow. That's…a really well thought out argument. Uhm…I think you're probably right. Sorry." She didn't understand…why couldn't she tell if it was magic or not, normally it just sort of clicked into her head when there was magic around. What he could do behaved like magic, but she couldn't feel it.

"I didn't expect you to believe me." He finally said. "I just thought you would have already known because of you peeking into my head."

"Nope. Robin was right…AGAIN…you're too random. It was like watching Cyborg change channels inside your head. Major strobe action."

"My brain's a disco ball?"

Raven laughed. "Not quite, you just go through subjects at a mile a minute."

"The power of A.D.D." He smirked.

Raven looked back down at her cards smiling. "Where are your parents now?"

His face fell a little. "They died." Raven's face went straight to worry to follow her robe changing grey. "Don't worry about it. I've come to terms with it. Robin helped me. They're gone, but I have good memories of them that make it easier to deal with."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know…and I know that you said you're OK about it, but if it helps at all, I know what it's like. My mother has been dead for a while now too." She saw a smile on his face, but his eyes were still a little sad.

"Thanks, Raven. It does help." He smiled a little more fully.

She flipped to her next card. "This is my last question. Why do you try so hard to help me? Why do you try so hard to make me smile or laugh?"

"It's complicated." He said looking away from her, his hand going subconsciously behind his head. "You're my friend, that's a big part of it. But, I also don't like to see anybody sad or unhappy, and because of your…I mean, because of Trigon you almost always looked sad and unhappy."

"There's more to it than that." She had voiced this, though she wasn't sure why…she just knew she was right.

Beast Boy looked up nervously. "I'll finish answering if you answer a question for me first."

Raven looked at him, trying to see if this was worth it. Another question wouldn't hurt her. "Alright. What's your question?"

"OK, uhm…would you…uh…will you go on a date with me?" He was looking straight forward, both hands behind his head. He wasn't letting out the air in his lungs, waiting for her to answer.

"I don't think about you that way, Beast Boy." She hoped he wouldn't be crushed, but she didn't want to lead him on.

"Why not?" His mind was just trying to find any grain of hope he could…things didn't look good though.

"I don't think about that stuff at all. It can mess with my control if I did. Plus, you're kind of not the type of guy I normally hang out with." I can't protect you from this, Beast Boy.

"I could change."

"But you're my friend the way you are. I wouldn't feel right about you changing how you act just so that we could go out."

"I don't mean that kind of change." He shifted his form and he looked like Robin. "I can give you whatever you want." He sounded like Robin too…just…green. He shifted again and he looked like Cyborg without any cybernetics. "I can be anyone." He shifted again into Aqualad. "Anyone." He said staring at her.

Raven's mind was on fire. He was offering her anyone. Any crush she had ever allowed herself to have. Any man she thought was good looking. He must have seen how I was acting when we met Aqualad. Suddenly he was walking towards her. Her mind started to slowly take in the full scope of what was going on. "Stop!"

Beast Boy stood in place. "Isn't this who you want?"

He may look and sound like Aqualad, but Raven could still feel the pain inside him. This was hurting him to do this. To abandon his own form to try and please her, but he was doing it anyway. "No. Change back into yourself. This is wrong. I'm not going to let you tempt me with this. I don't want that."

He changed back and stood there. His face still unreadable, but his pain was radiating off of him like a lighthouse beacon. "So, instead I just get dismissed and you duck into the safety of not trying to feel?"

His words stung her. "No, but you can't expect me to just instantly fall for you just because you like me like that. You can't expect me to run to you just because you change into someone that I thought looked nice. It's not that easy."

"I wasn't asking for any of that. I asked you out. Isn't that how you're supposed to find out if you can like someone as more than just friends?" His eyes were stinging with the tears he wouldn't let out.

She didn't like being accused like this; it felt like she was being made out as the bad guy. "And what if I'm not ready for that kind of thing! It's not fair for you to push me like this, and don't even try saying that this was the kind of thing we came here for. For me to step outside my comfort zones and just feel!"

"I wasn't gonna say that! You asked why I help you out, I'm gonna tell you! It's 'cause every time I do and I see a little bit more of you that I realize you're this amazing person, and I want to get to know you more! I'm being selfish about it! So just pardon me, but I think when you see the person who might make you feel like you're never going to be alone again that you just go after them and say 'screw worrying!'"

Raven looked steadily at him, he returned her gaze. "I can't handle this all at once. I'm not strong enough yet." She looked down, breaking their stare. "I need to think about this. I'm going to my room, we'll talk about this tomorrow morning."

She was just about to walk off when Beast Boy called to her. "Raven, we can't talk about it tomorrow."

"Well, I can't talk about it now…I'm just not…" But Beast Boy cut her off.

"Tomorrow is Saturday. We'll have to talk Sunday." He still had his firm stare directed to her. "And I do want to talk about this."

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(A/N) Now, were you all paying attention, or did Saturday catch you by surprise? I hope it was a surprise. I had to reread the other chapters just to make sure I had the days passing correctly. Beast Boy doesn't want to be alone ever again. Now, am I referring to the loss of family he's had to deal with or the loss of Terra? Both? Yeah, probably. I'm kinda simple minded like that. Anyway, please review since if you're here you probably already did the whole reading bit.


	8. For You

(A/N) I wanted to say thanks again to all those who reviewed. It's cool to see other people like my ideas like I do…well, at least somewhat like I do. This story seems like it's mostly about facing one's personal demons (no pun intended towards Raven), personal growth outweighing personal comfort, and anticipation versus patience. I try to keep my chapter titles a bit cryptic so that only after reading the chapter…or a few chapters in some cases…can you make sense of them. I think I like 'Nine in One' and 'What Color is a Raven?' for that reason. OveractiveMind, The Island Show with Raven Roth was cancelled after one episode. It beat out The Chevy Chase show for shortest-lived television series. forsakentruth, yes, Raven does have some form of affection for Beast Boy, but you can, and should for that matter, have affection for your friends. And finally, Regrem Erutaerc: The reason she doesn't act shocked after being asked out is simply because she isn't shocked. She knew he liked her in some way; the question she asked was to gauge that. And upon listening to the first part of his answer, she could deduce where the second half would lead. Raven's a smart cookie. ;-)

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – For You – A look through the eyes of Raven on a Saturday.

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She had been left alone by the fire. He just stormed off after he said that tomorrow would be Saturday, so they'd just keep talking about this on Sunday. Raven furrowed her brow in concentration. Why can't he just let it drop? She knew why, but it was easier to wish what he was feeling wasn't really real. She couldn't lie about that though. She had started to probe his mind the instant he had changed into Robin. He was feeling so much pain and anguish just so he could give her what he thought she wanted. She felt his longing for her. His great desire to see her happy, even if it meant his own misery.

She heard a knock at her bedroom door and was startled out of her thoughts. It was a good thing she had gone to bed so soon after Beast Boy had left. It had rained for a little while during the night. Raven liked the rain at night. It helped to calm her down, so she actually had gotten a decent night's sleep. She opened her door to see Beast Boy already half way back to their fire pit. It looked like he had made breakfast today. It also looked like he had dried off their chairs and little tables, though his was back where it had been before last night. She walked to her table and sat eating her toast and fruit, drinking her tea, waiting for Beast Boy to talk. She desperately wanted to talk, but today he was going to change into his carnal self. 'Today will be a day of reflection while we are trying to perform our duties. We can think on the things Beast Boy said to prepare for the morrow.' Raven was glad that she didn't have to talk like Wisdom.

"Ready?" Beast Boy stood a little ways off, his back to her. "You should grab something to take food in, in case you get hungry. And don't forget to keep out of reach."

Raven glided back to her room and grabbed a small bag she could sling over her shoulder and placed a few pieces of fruit in it and some of the carrots that Beast Boy had found before she came out of her room. Going back near her chair, she levitated up a few stories above him. "Ready!" She called down to him.

Beast Boy just simply hunched over and was the beast nearly instantly. Raven watched as he just roamed around the camp, sniffing at various things. He sniffed the air and must have caught a whiff of her because he turned his head up to her as she hung in the air above him. He didn't look at her for very long, another smell had gotten his attention and he took off much faster than Raven expected.

She darted after, trying her best to keep him fully in sight, but it was difficult with the trees growing thicker. He seemed to be heading for the densest part of the island's forest. She finally pulled closer to him when he abruptly stopped. She wheeled around and saw him looking through the surrounding foliage at something. She risked moving in closer and she saw it too. A deer. It was tall and majestic and it made her think of how noble and grand nature could be. Movement caught her eye and she turned away just in time to miss seeing the beast's attack. She still heard it though, and the short, tortured cry of the deer was ended abruptly with some disturbing cracking noises. As the beast ripped and tore its meal apart as it ate, Raven could feel her own recent meal struggling to stay where it was.

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Raven was glad that food was a very brief part of this creature's plans for the day. It had seemed to be scouting out its surroundings. Finding water it had drunk only a little before moving on. The main thing it seemed to want to do was sleep, but it kept changing locales after tiny naps that only gave Raven enough time to eat a piece of fruit or a carrot before she was off trailing the great shaggy thing.

Dusk was drawing near and she had to fly a little lower than before so that she could still see his outline through the trees. Her stomach growled at the poor bit of food it had been given since breakfast. "A cheese burger would really taste good right now." Raven had decided to give him another hour before seeing if she could get him to change back. She had probed his mind and found that Beast Boy was still in there just as though he were asleep.

The beast was near the mountain now; it seemed to like the area. Raven was barely twenty feet off the ground though she stayed back as far as she could, ready to shoot off into the air if she needed to. He was just starting to head up the rocky side of the foot of the mountain when he shot straight to his left, tearing off at a terrific pace. Raven couldn't keep up with him; he had changed directions too much. She pulled higher into the air, not feeling comfortable with chasing after the uninhibited, untamed part of Beast Boy without knowing exactly where he was while she was this close to the ground. She cleared the tops of the trees and started moving around in an ever-increasing pattern in an attempt to find out where he'd gone. A rustle caught her attention and she sped to it. Trying to pierce the darkness she was looking through to see where he was along the forest floor, she was surprised to see him spring so quickly at her from halfway up the tree she was nearest.

His powerful jump had caught her so off guard that she froze. So this is what the deer felt like, she thought morbidly. He had grabbed her and was falling back to earth with her gripped tightly in his hands, her arms pinned to her sides. When he landed Raven wanted to scream, she wanted to fight and kick in an attempt at saving her own life, but the sounds and actions never made it out. He had just let go of her after he had touched down. He opened his mouth, not to attack, but to drop something he had in it at her feet. He leaned in towards her, fear and fascination struggling to take the lead in her mind. Dipping his large maw towards her face he sniffed deeply and then started to trot off.

Raven was so dazed that the beast had gotten almost completely out of site again before she placed a shield around him with her powers. The beast had been most upset by being caged and attacked in every direction in an attempt at finding a weak point through which he could eventually make his escape. Raven watched him for a few minutes, waiting to see if he would give up or wear out, but he seemed to only intensify his efforts as time passed. Leaving him to his own devices inside her prison, she bent down to look at what he had dropped. It looked like a dead rabbit. He had given her food? And, was that the reason he had darted off, to catch this? It was too confusing. "Well…I guess it would be wrong to waste it…but how do I cook it?" Hearing the beast's snarls, she decided to try and figure everything out back at camp.

Soon, she was flying off with the rabbit held as far away from her as she could with the beast in tow. It had finally given up on trying to escape and seemed to be brooding. When she landed she took the rabbit to the sink to wash it off. Raven felt very strange having a dead animal in her hands with a balloon drifting along behind her carrying a powerful predator. "I have no idea what to do with this." She finally gave up, laying the rabbit in the sink and figured it would be easier to get Beast Boy to change back.

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"So…you do any tricks?" She had been staring at the thing for the past half hour and realized that she didn't have any more ideas for getting him to change back then she did for cleaning a dead animal to make it fit for cooking. Wisdom came to the forefront of her mind and suggested probing the mind of the beast to see what it wanted so that she could give whatever it wanted to it. Robin had said that that might help. "OK, let's see…" She had never probed the mind of anything that wasn't at the same evolutionary level as her, so she had her doubts on being able to find anything. She felt her way through his mind and only seemed to find desires. He seemed to want very badly some out of the where he was. He wanted a place, no, a territory that would be his…with a cave or something else that was very dark inside. He seemed content with his stomach, it still being full of deer, though he had desires to see what other meat there was. She was still trying to find an overriding desire when he started staring at her. She felt the flood of his instinct course through her. He was looking at her almost predatorily, but it was more…possessive, as though he thought of her as a part of his territory. "That's just creepy." She felt herself say, though she knew it was just Crass voicing her opinion of his thoughts.

"So this part of you feels the same as the rest of you. Guess that means you're not making anything out to be bigger than it really is. But how do I get the normal Beast Boy back?" She thought about what she had been told. "Any means necessary…I still don't like it. I don't care if he can take it."

"Why do you care? It's not like you like me."

Raven's mouth opened and closed several times as she looked up at Beast Boy now watching her from all fours inside her shield. "How?" was all she managed to get out other than some unintelligible noises.

"Are you gonna let me out first?" He was still staring. Raven released him by having the sphere drift to the ground before allowing it to phase out. "Thank you."

"So, how did you change back?"

He looked around the camp. "I didn't trash anything? I thought I would have messed up all this stuff."

"You didn't do anything here. Just kind of smelled everything. So how did you change back?"

"Did I try to attack you? I remember being really close to you at some point." This brief memory had really unnerved him.

"You can remember things?" She asked in surprise.

He tried to recall something other than Raven being very close to his…well, the beast's face. "Not really…just really short things like with what I saw of you. I remember a deer…and some rocky place, but that's about it."

"If you can remember little bits like that, then there's probably a way for you to remember more." She looked up and saw him looking at her like he was trying to find the damage he had done. "No, you didn't hurt me. You kind of just grabbed me out of the air so you could give me something. Are you going to tell me how you changed back now?"

"Not yet…what'd I give you?" The question could be dismissed for a little longer; he wanted to finish sorting out how to explain it…if he didn't understand, how would she?

"You don't want to know."

"That bad, huh?" He gave a weak chuckle. "Probably a bird or something then. Cats will give birds or mice to the people who feed them or treat them nice as presents."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Why would it be a cat? I thought it looked more like a wolf or something."

He smiled shyly. "Well…with all the books I've been reading lately a cat just makes the most sense. The jumping, the claws, the loaner attitude…stuff like that. Cats are always what I feel the most comfortable changing into, so it made sense to me for it to be some kind of cat thing."

"Are you ready to tell me how you changed back?" Happy poked fun at Raven by telling her she had a lot of passengers who wanted off her one-track mind.

His sigh went through his whole body and his shoulders sunk a little. "Yeah…it's just, I don't know what was happening with it. It's the first time I've been awake in coming out of that change outside of in a big fight." He grabbed his shoulder just to have something to do with his hands. "I just heard your voice and woke up. It sounds kind of lame, but that's what it felt like. Like I was asleep and you were talking to me, so I woke up so I could talk back."

Raven frowned. "That's never worked before. Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire told me they tried calling out to you…even warned you before they attacked to get you to stop."

"Could be just 'cause you were calm. Animals can sense fear and smell what it causes in us. They get firmer in whatever they're going to do when they're around that kinda thing. Fight or flight. That's what the book I'm reading now calls it."

"So either the Beast has to be forced out of the way, or it has to be so calm that it just lets you back in?" This was good news…possibly.

"I think so. That would explain a lot…like why I can go back and forth between it and other things when we're in serious danger. Plus, if that's the way it works, then it means that I can get it under control. If I can shove the beast back down because of danger, I'm stronger than it is. Well…I'm stronger at that point. And, if it can be calm enough to let me back in, then I think it could be trained." The smile that had been building faded again. "You'd have to do the training."

"You want me to domesticate you?" It sounded even more bizarre after she said it.

His eyes went hard. "Not me. That thing inside me."

"Don't you think it's time you started admitting that 'that thing' is you? Just…a part of you that you don't like?"

He closed his eyes and Raven could feel his inner turmoil at whether or not he should argue about this with her or just storm off to save her feelings. He apparently decided the latter. "I'm going to bed. We're gonna be talking a lot tomorrow, why don't we just talk about this then?"

At least he wasn't trying to completely duck out of it all. "OK, you gave me time, I'll give you time."

"Thanks." And then he just slowly walked off.

Raven sighed. She wanted so badly to comfort him, but she wasn't allowing herself to for fear that he would get the wrong idea. She had a plan for how she would find out just how serious he was going to be about the whole dating thing, a plan that might just get her out of the whole muddled mess. "Tomorrow." She sighed again. "Why can't I just go back to the way I was? It was so much easier."

'You can never go back. Life always will carry you forward. If you fight the current, you will always be fighting against losing your course, but if you move with it, you can steer an easier path.' Wisdom was getting to be too brazen for Raven's tastes.

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(A/N) Shorter than what I had thought it was going to end up as. I guess dialog takes more writing than action. Though, I would hardly call this an action chapter. More like, a non-talking cause they're doing kinda bland stuff. Necessary, but still a little bland compared to fighting Slade or Trigon or Brother Blood. I still would like to see somebody flame this though. Since I might not get my wish cause you people who have read this far probably either like what you're reading, are too nice to flame, or just don't want to put in the time after wasting your time to get here, well…could somebody share what a flame is like? I'm dead serious; I've never seen one before. Something like, some jerk that just wrote one up on a story or something. Something like that…but with giant robots. Giant robots always make me feel like changing the channel. **click**


	9. Testy

(A/N) For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, I'll answer any questions you have here…well, I'll answer them or tell you why I'm not going to answer. ;-) I'm looking forward to this chapter, I'll explain why at the end. OveractiveMind, a fresh strawberry virtupie would be excellent. Star's-Fire, I don't know if I'll have the story continue into their reunion with the Titans and how the others adjust to their changes…but I won't say no since I want to leave the door open to it. pureangel86, 'will Raven love him back like she wants to?' Who said she wants to? ;-) Honestly though, that's one of those questions that would give away too much. You'll just have to keep reading as stuff comes out. (Learned that from J.K. Rowling who refused to answer any question that might, even slightly, give something away that she didn't want being known before the book was read. Her writing is excellent; by the way, you guys really should read her stuff.)

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Testy – Raven plots against Beast Boy's attraction to her. Kind of a messed up thing to do.

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Raven had attempted making breakfast again, with slightly worse results than Starfire's last 'pudding' that she had mistakenly tried. She forced herself to eat the mixture she'd fried up. It was the last of the food that came with them. It looked like it might be OK, like slightly burned hash browns, but it tasted like uncooked egg whites over burnt carrots and freeze-dried peas. At least it didn't really have raw eggs was all she could think of as she forced herself to eat the 'food'. She looked over at Beast Boy, expecting to see him trying to find out where he could throw his plateful so that he would never have to look at it again, but he wasn't. He was eating absentmindedly, staring off into space.

The taste must have just hit him, Raven thought. He had stopped looking at nothing and turned to look down at his meal. But all he did was study his next bite like he was trying to figure out what it was. He just ate it, having given up trying to guess the mystery food.

"You don't have to eat it if you don't like it." Could my cooking be any worse? 'Yes.' She felt a snickering Happy say within her.

"What?" Beast Boy turned to her like he was just noticing her. "Why wouldn't I like it?"

He looked genuinely puzzled by her statement, so she dropped it. "Never mind."

"When are we going to finish talking?" He had been turning everything over and over in his mind. The way he felt about Raven, the way she was starting to pull back because he had told her about his feelings, the beast being part of him, it was all in a turmoil inside him. And, he thought, what is the awful crap I'm eating? It tasted like snot on charcoal to him, but he was determined to make Raven not feel bad about anything he could prevent…and her cooking had been the thing he had thought he could do the easiest. He wasn't so sure after having eaten half of the current dish.

She sighed. "After lunch. There's some stuff I want you to do for me then."

"How does doing stuff finish our talk?" This sounded like she was trying to get out of it.

"It's just something that'll help me." She desperately hoped he would accept that. Her plan depended on him being cooperative.

"Alright, but you can't expect me to be quiet while we do your stuff."

She smiled in spite of herself. "I could never even imagine you quiet."

He blinked at her before his own smile crept onto his face. He laughed a little.

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Morning study had been the most difficult for either of them yet. Both found they couldn't concentrate because their minds wouldn't leave them alone about the coming afternoon. Lunch wasn't a big deal either since Beast Boy had cooked. The only disturbance in all the day leading up to the thing that caused them to feel anxious and worried at the same time was when Beast Boy had gone to do the dishes. His scream snapped Raven out of her distracted thinking and she flew quickly to him.

Beast Boy was standing near the sink holding his nose with one hand and the dead rabbit in the heavily gloved other. "You're not supposed to leave dead animals just lying around!"

Raven covered her mouth and a muffled "sorry," came through her fingers. Her hands dropped to her sides. "I kind of forgot about it after everything. I didn't know how to clean it, so I left it here to try and figure it out later."

"Well…fine, but you could have asked me, I would have helped with it. It's not any good now." His nose was starting to pick up the smell in spite of how hard his fingers were pinching down on it. "I need to go bury this."

He started to walk off when a black field went over the rabbit. He watched Raven float it off a decent enough distance. She then raised what she thought would be enough earth to hide the stench from anything and just let the present she had been given drop into the hole. She tried to put the dirt back into the hole quick enough to pack it down, but not violently enough to make her think about what she might have just done to a rabbit's corpse. "How do you know how to…well, whatever you need to do to get it ready to cook? You're a vegan."

Beast Boy grinned at her. "I wasn't always, Rae. My parents weren't, and we lived in Africa. If you want meat with dinner, you just hunt something. I never said I don't like the taste of meat, it's the whole eating something that I can look like…it's just too freaky."

"I guess that would be. But, if I want to, uhm…you'd help me?" It was uncomfortable to ask, but the idea of living off of fruits and vegetables and tea for what might be months just wasn't going to cut it.

"Yeah, I'll help, but I'm not gonna do it for you. I'll teach you how to do it and then you can do it yourself. It's kind of gross stuff though. Even if you DO like meat."

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"Huh?"

"It just means I'll work out if I can do it or not when you show me." Raven sighed. "Come on, I need you to do that stuff now. We'll do the dishes later."

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She moved her chair in front of Beast Boy's and sat down. Her brown cloak made him feel better, but not much. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"First you have to tell me if you're still in denial about the beast being part of you." Raven wanted to look away, but she forced herself to keep eye contact.

He sighed and slouched further in his chair. "I don't like it, but yes. You're right about that. I even told you that it was me before when I said that those chemicals 'awoke' something in me. It was always there; just…I don't like thinking that part of me put everybody in danger. That it could hurt them if they angered me. I don't want to hurt anybody." His face showed the sleep he must have lost thinking about all of this during the night.

"Good. I think it'll help you if you can admit that." She fidgeted for a second before standing. Now that it was time for her plan to happen she was very nervous. She wasn't sure if she wanted it to fail or not, and that thought only added to her anxiety. "Come on, we're going into Nevermore."

"Uhm…'K." He stood and followed her into her room. He took his normal seat on the floor and she brought the mirror over and sat down next to him. They grabbed each other's hands and then they were both moving forward and in through the mirror.

They landed in the middle of a barren field, an archway a little ways off. "We're going to do this in Wisdom's section. She said she would have everybody there waiting for us." Raven noticed they were still holding hands and quickly let go.

"Why are they all waiting for us? Are you gonna tell me what I have to do before it happens?" He missed having her hand in his…it felt nice.

She thought for a second. "No. I'll tell you when I tell them." She started walking to the archway.

Wouldn't they already know since they're in your head? He thought as he trotted after her.

She touched the archway like she had done at Affection's and it lit up. Wisdom walked through almost immediately. "I have been expecting you, the others are awaiting us inside. Please follow me."

They walked through the arch and found themselves in a wide area with chalk boards which had notes and equations of some sort scribbled all over them in neat, organized writing. The ground felt cushioned, like thick carpet. It turned out to be moss with clovers abounding as Beast Boy had discovered when he looked down at it. And trees of a very inviting nature grew well spaced apart. They walked into the only tight grouping of trees that could be seen and inside were all of Raven's emotions in various states of sitting or standing. Happy was even sitting on a low hanging branch, letting her feet dangle. "Hey, BB!" She called out seeing them enter. He waved to her.

The rest turned towards the newly arrived people. Anger looked over her shoulder at them from the tree she was leaning on, but quickly turned away again and mumbled under her breath. Raven looked at them all and nudged Crass awake with her foot. She turned towards Beast Boy and smiled in a worried way. "You told me that you felt like I could make you never feel alone again." She paused to gather up her strength, glad that Bravery was standing so close to her. "When you asked me to go on a date it was a little too much for me. I'm just barely getting used to letting these guys do what they want. I wasn't expecting to have to face that kind of flow of emotions from others yet." Bravery rested her hand on Raven's shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. She smiled weakly and continued. "But, after I calmed down and thought a lot about it. I thought you might have been right about some things, and I overreacted a little." Anger snorted at this. "Fine," she said a little to forcefully, "maybe a lot. I'm willing to give things a chance, but only under one condition."

"What condition?" His mind was racing to try and figure out what kind of condition would be so bad that he wouldn't try it just so he could go on an actual date with Raven. Not finding anything bad enough, his hopes started to rise along with the corners of his mouth.

Raven found Beast Boy's slow smile a bit unnerving, but another gentle squeeze on her shoulder helped her to press forward. "I'm here so that I can become whole. All of them," she gestured at the emotions around her, "are me too. You have to tell me why you'd accept each of them before I'll accept your invitation for a date." She tried to look confident, but his smile had gone from hopeful straight into ecstatic and it knocked her back to her nervousness.

Beast Boy felt like he'd just won the lottery. "That's it? That's all I have to do and then you'll go out with me?"

The butterflies in her stomach made her even more nervous. Part of her had wanted this to make him change his mind about the whole date thing, but another part of her was excited at what he might say and anxious about the date, but in a 'I can't wait for it' kind of way. This didn't help her calm down, so she answered him with a very shaky, "Yeah."

Inside his mind, Beast Boy was doing back flips. "So who do you want me to start with?" His smile not showing the slightest signs of dieing down.

"Ooh! Me First! Me First!" Happy called out from her perch in the tree. She liked the look on his face and thought that she would get a good compliment from him since they had hung out the last time he was here.

He laughed a little. "OK. Happy has got to be one of my favorites of your emotions. I keep wanting to see you smile, and every time she gets one out it only makes me want to see you smile more. Plus, Happy likes my jokes and jokes back. She's fun and funny."

Happy beamed at Beast Boy while Raven hid face with her hood. "May I be next? I'd like to see what he would say about me." Intelligence said, leaning forward inquisitively.

"I like Intelligence 'cause she's the part of you that helps us figure out how to stop the bad guys faster. She's the part of you that likes to always read as much as Cy and I like video games." He grinned at Raven. "Plus the glasses make you look cute."

Raven's cheeks went a little pink. "Fascinating. I would not have thought that you would appreciate Raven's reading." Intelligence marveled.

"Raven wouldn't be Raven without a book somewhere near her…it's just part of who she is."

Intelligence smiled. "Very true. I think that Crass should be next so that she's still awake enough to hear it." She said looking disapprovingly at the emotion trying to make her orange cloak into a pillow.

Crass sat up at hearing she would be next. "So tell me why you like me so I can go to sleep."

For the first time Beast Boy's smile faltered a little, only to be put right back on with another giggle from the green teen. "You make me feel like Raven and I aren't so totally different. You're the part of her that lets her be the Stankball ref without her getting grossed out by it. You're the part that shows she can be a little bit of a slob like I am. Plus, it's funny whenever Raven burps." Crass just gave him a thumbs up and flopped onto her cape and started snoring.

This was really starting to feel like he wasn't going to have any problems getting through her little challenge. Raven could feel her emotion's appreciation for what Beast Boy had said about them and she could feel the desire that the rest had to see what he would say about them. It's a good thing they still don't have a full grip on how to make me feel all this yet, she thought. "Tell me about Bravery. She's probably an easy one." Raven was glad her hood was up; it meant she could avoid eye contact more easily.

"Alright…Bravery has saved my butt more times than I can even remember. I mean, how many fights have we been in when Raven has acted on Bravery's influence and saved us from the bad guy? Plus, she helped you come here to work on getting back together with everyone. And, she gets you to talk to me." He smiled at Bravery at this. She smiled full back at him.

Wisdom smiled calmly at how well things were going. "I believe it would be acceptable if I were to be next."

"I like you because you always have Raven's best interests at heart. You take care of her and you try to get her to become the best she can. You represent her desire to better herself to me." He liked the way Wisdom was smiling. "You planned this with Raven, didn't you?" Beast Boy eyed her, smirking.

"Yes, I did. I think you would agree that it was a sound plan for all concerned. If you weren't as serious about wanting to be closer to Raven, this would have shown that, but if you were serious about everything then Raven would be bound by her promise to move forward and give you your chance. I believe the possibility of finding love is worth the risk." She had looked over to Raven when she had said her last few words to make sure Raven was going to allow this to continue. It looked as though she would. Good, she thought to herself, then this seed will bare good fruit. It was, in her mind anyway, only Anger that posed any kind of a challenge, but Wisdom had faith in Beast Boy. Raven, though, was blushing deeply, but her bowed head and hood kept any of it from showing. Wisdom smiled lightly again, figuring out what was happening on Raven's hidden face. "What draws you to Affection?" She had directed this at Beast Boy.

Beast Boy blushed a little himself. "Well…I like her, but…she's the one who scares me the most."

Raven's head shot up. "Why would you be afraid of her?" She pulled her hood down to get a better look at him.

"Uh," he swallowed hard, "she's the one who has the power here. If she chooses one way I'd feel like I was invincible." He gave a hopeful smile. "But, if she chooses another way…" His face showed well enough how badly it could hurt without the words. "So, I guess she's my hope or my death. I want her to like me like I want you to like me. She holds my fate."

"Kind of melodramatic for Beast Boy, but very sweet." Affection stated plainly, giving Raven a warm smile.

Raven didn't have her hood up to hide the flush that hit her this time. Beast Boy thought she looked beautiful like that. "Just go on to Serenity…and stop staring at me." She tried to sound angry, but it only came out as flustered. Beast Boy turned away all the same, trying to help her feel more comfortable around him.

"Serenity said that I help her with you." He kept turned away from Raven by saying all of this at Serenity herself. She was sitting peacefully leaning against the trunk of a nearby tree. "If I'm helping you and Serenity is the one who says so, then I was helping you keep control of your powers before Trigon fell. Serenity gave me courage after she had told me. I can see why you worked so hard to keep her around. She allows you to face difficult things without them clouding your brain."

Beast Boy looked around and his eyes fell on Anger. She immediately sneered at him, almost daring him to try and find some part of her he liked. He only smiled, which annoyed Anger all the more. "You don't think I like you."

"I know you don't, only Trigon ever did." She spat back at him.

"No he didn't. Trigon didn't like anyone. Not even a little. He used you to get Raven to open the portal. That's all Trigon ever did…he used people." Beast Boy didn't let his eyes fall from hers even for a second. "But I saw you do something that made me think, 'maybe she isn't as bad as she tries to make me believe'. When I tied you up because you were being mean to Raven, you were furious at me. When I cut you loose, you looked like you wanted to punch me with everything you had because I had done that to you…but you didn't. You didn't even pull back your fist, and I'll admit that I was scared of what you'd do. But you didn't do anything, you kept yourself in check." He focused his gaze on her more intensely. "I told you that you didn't have control over Raven's powers, but you showed that you have control over yourself. And, whether you admit it or not, you're not bad; you're just the part of Raven that has to deal with how things upset her. With Trigon gone, you're showing just how good a person you really are."

"Shut up," was all that Anger said to Beast Boy. Raven on the other hand couldn't say anything. Beast Boy had just given honest reasons why he liked even Anger, but even more mind rattlingly numbing was that Raven was sure she saw a faint pink glow creep onto Anger's cheeks before she told him to shut up.

"How can you just accept me like this?" Raven's mind knew he was serious, she knew he meant what he had said, she just couldn't understand why. "How can you possible just think I'm the one who'll give you what you want? Do you even realize how screwed up I am?" She saw Beast Boy's calm demeanor and answered her own question. "Of course you know…how could you not."

"Rae?"

"What, Beast Boy?" She was feeling tired.

"I'm not done yet." She turned to see him walking to one of the trees just barely on the edge of the clearing. He knelt down near it and started talking in a calm, quiet voice. "Bet you thought I forgot about you." He smiled at whomever he was talking to. She was just out of Raven's sight.

Timid, she thought.

"I want you to know how special you are too." Beast Boy was talking to her with the care and tenderness a father gives to his favorite little daughter. "Did you know that you, more than anybody else here make me feel like I'm needed?" No one could see it, but she must have shaken her head. "Well, you do. You're the part of Raven that lets me help her when she's scared or confused or sad. You let me care for her because you're the part of her that needs it. You're also the part of her that says sorry when she says something she doesn't mean. Thank you for letting me help…it's one of the things that help me feel like I'm needed." He smiled again to her. "I'm just going to finish talking to Raven now. I hope you keep letting me help." He stood and walked back towards Raven. She looked like she was in between wanting to cry and confusion.

Affection, on the other hand, was wiping a tear from her eye while smiling her warmest smile. "That was an incredibly gentle and kind thing you just did." He could only smile sheepishly and look at the floor in response.

Telling people exactly how he really felt about something had always been easy for him; he never seemed to stop talking long enough to think up good lies. But with Timid he wanted to not frighten her, and he wanted to make her feel like she made him feel, so he had waited on her turn, allowing the others to go ahead of her, so that he could think about it, at least a little.

Raven was looking around at all of her emotions. Each of them had something on their face that looked like respect or appreciation, even Anger, though it looked like she was only doing it because he hadn't said anything to upset her. Happy just simply beamed at him. "So…I don't know what to do now…I'm not sure how this works."

"But I'm still not done."

"How could you not be done?" She asked exasperatedly. "I don't have any other emotions!"

He walked over to her. "No, you don't. But you're still a part of you. You're the part of you that made them all. The part that holds them all together. You're my favorite part of all because you're Raven, no matter what. With these wonderful emotions that you have or without them, and Raven is the girl I asked out."

Her face went redder than Anger's cape in under three tenths of a second.

He smiled at her and took her hand into his. "Come on, let's go back to camp." And with that, he led her towards the archway ahead of them.

Raven's brain finally snapped back into gear. "The forbidden door is the other way."

"Oh." Embarrassed, he smiled a little and let her lead the way, though he still hadn't let go of her hand.

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(A/N) See, the reason I was excited about this chapter was because, like I said in previous chapters, I don't know any of you well enough to write this story for you, so I'm writing it for me. I'm just banking that others will like it too. But, you may have noticed, I LIKE BEAST BOY WITH RAVEN. I'm a little bit of a romantic; I think that the guy and girl are supposed to end up together. With Teen Titans Robin and Starfire is too obviously one pairing (denying this is to deny nearly four seasons of episodes that almost all have some kind of StarxRob innuendo in them), and Beast Boy and Raven have something between them, even though it won't probably happen in the show. But, I like Raven too much for her to have to end up alone, and Beast Boy is such a great person when you really think about how he tries to make her happy…even though he does screw up an awful lot since he's the main comic relief. But here I can make it happen, so sue me if I try.


	10. Two to One

(A/N) ShadowRoth, nope, nobody has taken up my plea for a flame as yet. I remain only able to know what they are through others. And a nice thanks to anyone who told me what a flame was like. I want to take this little bit to offer something. If anybody wants a beta-reader/proofreader for their stories, then I would be glad to do so. Just tell me what kind of stuff you want me to read for (spelling, grammar, seeing if something is OOC or not, anything like that).

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Two To One – Where we demonstrate Newton's law of gravity…a lot of things go from up to down.

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Beast Boy helped Raven off of her floor and stared at her. "I'm glad we did this."

Another smile from him just made Raven more unsure about whether or not she had just done the best thing. Feeling his hand still in hers, she looked up at him. "Uh, Beast Boy? Can you let go of my hand? I'm not as comfortable with all this as you are."

He didn't like letting go, but he wanted to get her used to him being around her like this. It was a nice little sip of hope for things to keep getting better when she had said 'not AS comfortable', it meant some part of her was perfectly fine with it, just not enough for her to let go of being nervous. "Rae?"

He had been staring at her again. "Yeah?" A nap would feel really good right now. She just wanted the release of not thinking about all this for a little, and sleep would give that to her.

"I need to do one more thing. I just don't want to surprise you with it."

He was smiling almost manically. Her eyes went wide. He's going to kiss me, her mind raced, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap…

"Well, here it comes." And he fainted.

Raven's eyes had started to close when he fainted so that it was the sound of him landing on the floor that got her eyes open again. "Uhm, Beast Boy?" She looked down at him, and even though he was out cold, he was still smiling happily.

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Beast Boy woke up back in his own room on his bed. Raven sat in a chair at the foot of the bed, like she had done last time.

When she saw his eyes open, she asked, "What happened?" She was still berating herself for thinking he was going to kiss her and for her having been willing to let him.

He closed his eyes again. "I've never done that before…talk to a girl like that. I've talked to girls and asked them out before; just…it's always some big show. Plus, it's you…I always worry about how much trouble my mouth will get me in when I'm around you. I was holding back a lot of panic just so I could get through it all…I sort of went into shock after I saw that I didn't screw anything up. You're not mad at me doing something that made me pass out again, are you?"

Raven was thinking about how much trouble his mouth had almost gotten her into with her own self. "It's OK, I asked you to do it. I'm not mad, but I'm really worn out from it all. I used to always get out of anything that even looked slightly like what we just did. Since you're OK, I'm going to bed."

"Bed? What time is it?" He sat up a little more.

Raven had stood and was pushing the chair back towards the little desk. "It's after dark…it wasn't dark when we came out, but I think you must have been tired too…you've slept for a while now."

"Ugh, I hate this part of passing out. I keep finding out some big chunk of my day is gone, and on top of that, I haven't done my training today." He flopped back down, annoyed with himself.

"Do it tomorrow…but you have to do it in sets. Do the set you missed today in the morning and the other in the evening." She was telling him, and she wanted him to just do what she told him so that he wouldn't have one of those severe migraines again.

"Are you going to help me both times still?" He waited for the answer he felt would come, but he wanted to hear her say it.

A very tired, small smile lit in her eyes. "Yes, I'll still help you. Now go to sleep."

"'K…night, Rae." He turned onto his side, still smiling. He had been smiling so much that his cheeks were getting sore.

"Good night." Raven let herself out and quietly closed his door. She walked back to her own little dwelling deep in thought. She had felt so on edge about everything and now she had a date with Beast Boy. She stopped in front of her door. "I have a date…with Beast Boy." She did the only thing she could think of with how tired she was and how everything was hitting her, she panicked.

Moving quickly into her room she looked down at her mirror. Her mind was instantly remembering the afternoon's visit and everything he had said. Wisdom…she needed Wisdom to help her think of how to handle this. 'She got me into this, she has to help me deal with it.'

Sitting on the floor in front of the mirror she concentrated. When she landed in Nevermore, she was startled to see Wisdom standing near her as though she had been waiting for her. "Welcome, you were expected. Would you like to come into my grove to talk?"

"Uh…sure." Raven followed after her. "How'd you know I was coming to see you?"

"I guessed." Wisdom said smiling her in small, soft way. "Not what I would normally do, but Knowledge and I had talked about it, and it made the most sense that you would seek me once everything had finally registered."

"I want you to tell me why the plan backfired so badly." They weren't at her ring of trees, but Raven didn't want to wait anymore…she was still having trouble keeping calm about everything.

Wisdom smiled again. "You won't like the first part of my answer, though it is true." She turned to face Raven, who had stopped walking. "The first part is that you already know why the plan failed, since I am you, I would not have knowledge beyond your own, I merely have that same knowledge without it being filtered through anything else."

Raven didn't like this answer…she felt annoyed at Wisdom being right, it happened too often. "What do you mean 'filtered'?"

"I mean everything that seeks to suppress and distort truth. Vanity, denial, ego, envy, and any other petty emotion that comes from the darker sides of my sisters and me. And if you are wondering what pettiness Wisdom can bring, it is self-righteousness."

"All of you have downsides…understandable. Then Happy's would be mania?" Raven said thoughtfully.

She was grasping it quickly, good. "Among others."

"So what's the second part of the answer?" Wasn't anyone just going to tell her the first time she asked something?

Wisdom knew that as soon as she started Raven would see it. "The plan did not backfire. It was thought out so that both possibilities could be explored. You just wanted one result, what you received was the other. Your plan was that either he would see some part of you he could not really accept, and therefore he would back down, or he would not see any part of you he disliked and would only pursue you more fervently. The plan was to either discourage Beast Boy or ENCOURAGE him. There was no middle ground result sought for. If you wanted that, you should have left him outside whenever you came here."

Raven was mad at herself. Mad that she was blinding herself to what she had done, and mad at herself that she could risk hurting Beast Boy just because it felt nice for her to have a boy truly like her. She didn't know if she liked Beast Boy as anything more than a good friend. But she had so badly wanted to feel like she had with Malchior before he showed his true colors that she was willing to risk her friendship because of her desire to be wanted again. "He deserves better treatment than I've given him."

"Yes. He does." Wisdom resumed walking forward. "Come, the tree circle will be a good place to continue in."

She followed her brown self inside the trees that marked Wisdom's most solemn spot. This was where she went to focus and concentrate. This was a place of peace to think in without distraction. "So how do I keep from hurting him?"

"That should be plain. I will not answer what you can discover without me." She was not stern, just firm.

"I find out if I like him…I let him take me on a…a date…that's too weird. I've never been on a real date. And now Beast Boy is the first guy to ask me." The soft grass felt cool, but not cold against her legs as she sat Indian style on the ground.

"There have been others. You have just never accepted."

Raven glared at her emotion. "I know that. I've never been asked by someone…someone who I think really likes me. The others just wanted to get to know me for one reason or another, mostly because they thought I would say yes out of desperation. Beast Boy is different. He doesn't want anything else, and he isn't doing this for any other reason than simply because he likes me."

"And what would be wrong with seeing if you would like him the same way?" Wisdom liked Raven like this. She was unsure of herself, yet she was still being honest and looking at things in a realistic light.

Raven studied her shoes rather than look at Wisdom. "Nothing. Nothing whatsoever…except the fact that it scares me to death! How can he like me like this? He isn't like me; he hasn't even read half as many book TITLES as I've read books! It's confusing that someone like him could think that way about someone like me! I always saw him as ending up with a girl like Terra."

Wisdom felt that now would be a good time to illuminate Raven on things that her less than stellar self-esteem had hid from her. "You mean you pictured him with a beautiful, caring, loving person who had trouble controlling her powers?" She hoped that she had gotten the sarcasm right…Crass had been helping her learn because she thought it would come in handy…this was Raven she was an emotion for after all.

A thoughtful stare greeted this revelation. "What do you mean by that? What're you trying to prove?"

"That what you thought Terra was before she betrayed you all is what you are. Beast Boy may act in a very immature way most of the time, but he acts the way he does for good reasons. He IS immature, I will not deny that, but how many young men are not so in some proportion? But he is also very kind and tries to befriend everyone. If he sees anyone that is not enjoying themselves enough, or smiling enough, or laughing enough, then he takes it on as his duty to see that their deficiency is quickly replenished. He also likes to think of himself as a man, and he sees as part of the role of a man as protecting women. He protected you from Adonis and he tried to protect Terra from herself. I believe Beast Boy expresses his feelings for someone in a very MALE way…through action. What he does is just as potent as saying how he feels could be, and he's done more for you than any of the other Titans."

Raven blushed again and felt annoyed with herself for not being able to stop doing it. Her cheeks had gotten more than their fair share of blood today. A thought crossed her mind. "If I want to keep from hurting him, the best thing I can do is to like him back. Since I can't force myself to, what's the best course to take to find out if I do?"

"To let him treat you as he wishes and see what you feel from it. If you enjoy what he does, if you enjoy his company, then you have half of your answer. Liking what he does isn't everything. The other half is to see if you like doing for him. Find out if you enjoy making him happy."

Raven creased her forehead, deep in thought. "I want to do this right. I need to be careful." And then the skies opened and Raven felt as though her answer landed neatly in her lap with large letters that described exactly how to use what she had received. "Wisdom, I need you with me to help guide me, but it's not enough for me to just come here every now and then. I need to receive as much as you can give me so that I can use as much of your ability as I can. I think that we need to try merging, and I think we need to make it permanent. I think I would end up hurting Beast Boy badly in some way if I didn't put you back where you belong."

Wisdom smiled, almost excitedly, but it was too hard to tell with the small nature her smiles always took. "I believe you are correct."

Raven stood and thought for a moment. When she needed to join with all of her emotions there was always a great need driving it. She could think of no need greater than this. She focused on becoming one with Wisdom and closed her eyes.

Wisdom and Raven slowly lifted into the air. There was a sound of wind though it never seemed to arrive, for their cloaks hung limply in place. Wisdom focused on rejoining with Raven and started to be swung around in a circle. As the speed which Wisdom was orbiting Raven increased she became more and more of a blur. When all that could be seen was a brown ring encompassing the purple haired Titan it blindingly shrank in towards Raven and with a flash of light, only Raven remained floating gently in the air. She drifted down and as her feet felt earth beneath them she opened her eyes.

The landscape had changed. She knew she was no longer in Wisdom's grove of trees, she was in the in between place. The place that had always been so barren was now much greener. The ground looked like it was good soil, made for growing things. There were trees that looked to be the same kind as were in Wisdom's realm, though they weren't as close together. The path that led from archway to archway was now lined with clovers and moss covered small patches of ground, usually around a tree, but not always. "Then the barren land was always MY domain. And without emotion it laid in ruins…ugh, it's gonna take a while to get used to talking like that sometimes. Maybe after I rejoin with a few more emotions it won't happen anymore."

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The next morning found Beast Boy in an anything-but-surprising good mood. He had just gotten a date with prettiest girl in all of Jump City. Well…at least he thought she was the prettiest. Robin might not agree with me…but I doubt he'd admit who he thought was prettier; he smirked to himself as he continued washing the breakfast dishes. He had exactly the perfect place to take her. He'd found it last night after Raven had gone back into her room. He just had too much energy to sleep.

Seeing Beast Boy almost skipping back into camp gave Raven a small laugh. He must have heard it, because he came over to her, and he had stopped walking with so much bounce in his step. "Thanks for doing the dishes." She was determined to let him stay on his emotional high. Crass would have to just relax about how she thought he looked and Happy wasn't going to get any of her jokes told today, so she should just give up telling them to me, she thought inwardly.

"You're welcome, but what was so funny?"

She was glad to see that he wasn't apprehensive, just curious. "You just seem more up than usual." He beamed at her and went to his hut to get his animal flash cards. She smiled, taking in the wonderful high it was to see somebody so excited because of her. No one could deny how good it felt when somebody loved you…wait…back up…when somebody 'loved' you…did Beast Boy love her? He didn't ever say he did. But some part of Raven was telling her that he looked like somebody in love.

"You ready, Rae?" He had walked up expecting her to take the cards and start heading to the clearing, but she was still just staring off at something. Beast Boy turned to see what it was she was looking at, but there wasn't anything there. He kept staring at the same spot, hoping to finally see what she was seeing, but nothing popped out at him. He leaned over to Raven, still staring and asked, "What are we looking at?"

Raven finally heard Beast Boy and was about to answer that she had been thinking and wasn't looking at anything when she realized how close he was to her. She froze. She felt that if she moved he might move and something could happen. 'Something' remained conveniently vague in her mind, but she was sure it would have to do with what guys liked to do with girls they liked. She calmed down and saw that he was still waiting for an answer, giving him one was the best thing to do. "I was just thinking…sometimes I stare at nothing when I do that."

"Cool! I stare at nothing all the time." It was only after he said it that Beast Boy realized how wrong that had come out. "I meant while I'm thinking!" He tried to quickly add, but Raven had already smiled about what he said. She at least looked apologetic about it, turning her face away and then looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Don't worry about it…you ready to put on a few pounds?" A joke is what he needs.

"Huh?"

She sighed…figures it'd be a joke that only I think is funny. "Your first card says 'hippopotamus', I was just making a joke about how you take on the weight of the animal you change into and I think that this is coming out all stupid and I killed the joke by over explaining it." Having finished, Raven realized how idiotic what she said sounded like. "Ugh, what I meant was…"

"It's OK Raven! I just didn't get it at first, it's funny." He smiled at her. "See? It made me smile…that's a success story for a joke."

He had to be doing this just for her benefit, there's no way her lame joke made him smile. "Let's just start training."

"Dude! Your leotard's brown! When did you do that?" Shock and a large desire to hear if what he thought this meant was true or not filled his eyes.

Raven looked down at the clothing he had pointed at. She had seen that it changed color when she had gone to take her morning shower. She looked up at Beast Boy, still very proud of herself. "I rejoined with Wisdom last night."

"No way! That's awesome!" He started to dance and strut. "Go Raven…go Raven…you the Ma…uh woman…you the woman!"

She laughed again; she noticed though that it was a much stronger sensation than it had been since she had taken the cuffs off of her emotions. Wisdom is one with me again. They have one of their own to focus on like they did with Serenity. Guess this means I have to be on guard about what to do if they trigger my powers. Growing pains suck she thought savagely as she realized how much stress and anxiety she had gone through so far, and it was only the first day of their second week.

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(A/N) I thought I was going to have them talk to each other about the date in this chapter, but it seemed to not be quite right yet. With the busy schedule they have, a serious talk has to happen in the afternoon or at night. I have some surprises still in store, if I didn't, why would you even read this? Anyway, look for a more real threat to rear its head soon. Please review, it's a help to me no matter what you say, cause even if you only say "post soon" it's encouraging.


	11. Scary Thoughts

(A/N) Elissar, thank you for the flame, the warmth was good for my arthritis. I would like to encourage those of you who decide to review to add what you did and didn't like. This chapter is dedicated in loving memory to Terra. A Teen Titan who was a good person who made bad choices. I am decidedly NOT a Terra hater, she had her good points. Thinking for herself totally and knowing whom to trust weren't those points. Plus, her power was just too cool.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Scary Thoughts – A date is set for the…uhm…date.

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The morning's training had gone fairly well. Beast Boy had done his half hour of speed shifting with only a slight headache to show for it. Raven had read the last of the comics and had picked apart the writer's poor story line, pointing out the actions that the hero could have taken to get the same results without so many battles. "Fights are kind of the point of most comic books…but you are totally joined with Wisdom if this is the kind of stuff that you feel first."

Smiling she replied, "I never really liked that she never used contractions…but now I catch myself doing it in my head."

"What's a contraction again? I can't remember." Growing up in Africa instead of going to regular schools had its down sides too.

"It is when two words are joined into one smaller word…cannot becomes can't, do not becomes don't, anything like that." Her robe had gone a mustard color as she spoke.

Beast Boy was glad Starfire wasn't there; she'd probably try and taste Raven or something. "Cool, I get it. So, she never used 'em?"

Raven liked the casual way Beast Boy did almost everything. Even how he used individual words was casual. She envied him for that a little. "Nope, no at all. I think she did it to help distinguish herself from everyone else when they would be trying to tell me something all at the same time. It worked, since when I hear somebody speak like that I think of sages on mountaintops. And you're supposed to listen to sages." She smirked.

Beast Boy looked at her funny. "You mean like those guys who wear robes and just give advice to people who had to climb a mountain to find them?" He thought for a moment. "I thought those were, like, Buddhist monks."

Raven, caught off guard from Beast Boy knowing more than he let on again, gawked till she had a response. "Well, the classic idea of what I was talking about is from that, but where'd you learn about Buddhist monks?"

"One of the books Robin sent with me. It had this stuff on animals from Naples…"

"I think you mean 'Nepal'."

"That was it! Anyway, it talked about the animals there and how the monks leave them alone since they think it's wrong to kill another living creature." He smiled, proud of himself for remembering.

"Cool. What do you want for lunch?" She was hoping he would let her cook. She needed the practice and she felt that it was only fair that they share the chores.

"A tofu burger, fries, and a soy shake." He smiled at her slyly. "But I'll take whatever you're offering."

"Good…I wouldn't know how to cook fake meat anyway." A funny thought struck her. "Why do you eat tofu that's made to taste like meat if you're trying to abstain from meat and any meat byproduct all together?"

"Uh…'cause I don't want to just eat plain tofu? Wait…no…uh, I think it's because I used to like meat, when I was little, so it was the easiest way to go vegan."

"OK, I was just curious." She had grabbed some fruits and vegetables from their food lock box and was starting to cut up the carrots.

"So when do you want to go on our date?" He hoped to everything he'd ever even heard of that she thought that was as casual as he wanted it to sound. Seeing her freeze, mid-slice made him think that it had been too casual. "Sorry! I was just trying to get stuff planned and I wanted to know how much time I had." Well, that sounded like good, old, panicky me, he grumbled at himself.

Raven felt blood returning to a familiar spot on her face…it was good that she had her back to him. "Uh…wh-when did you want to do it?" Stuttering…great…that'll really show I'm not nervous.

Inside his mind Beast Boy chuckled. I can make Raven nervous? This is so totally backwards. "I was thinking we could do it Friday. That way if you didn't have any fun, or I did or said something stupid, you'd have Saturday to calm down and not kill me." He smiled, but inwardly he knew he wasn't really joking. "And if you do have a good time, than I'll have that much more of a reason to gain control of the beast so that I can see you for more than just breakfast on Saturday." OK, that last part sounded cheesy, but at least she has to go…she had already said she would.

Raven thought his idea over. It had merit, but part of her wasn't looking forward to the buildup in tension the week would bring. Then again, doing the date as soon as possible felt like it would bring on a full-scale panic attack too. I'm trying to not hurt him…go along with his idea; it'll show him…it'll show him what? That I like him too? Ugh…too man questions. "Friday sounds fine. What're we going to do? There's no restaurants or movie theaters or anything else."

"You'll just have to wait and see!" He grinned sneakily. "And no going in my head to find out early!"

She sighed just quiet enough for him to not hear. All aboard the anxiety express. "Fine, but you should know by now what kind of stuff I'll like and won't like…so you better figure out something we'll both enjoy."

"I already know what we're doing, why do you think I told you you're not allowed in my head to peek?" He liked being able to act like this. Like he had some treasure that he was going to share, but not until the time was right. Raven would probably like to know sooner, but she was going to have to wait. "The waiting is the best part about a good present!"

"Sure it is." She screamed at him in her mind for him to just tell her already, but reason won out, she would wait.

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Everything else that day had been routine…they were settling into a nice comfortable pattern for their training. Mornings with books, afternoon in practice. Raven had decided that the trips into her mind would be more productive if she spent her time with whatever emotion she was seeking to fuse with next. She had figured that the desire for the emotion needed to be at some kind of pinnacle for the merger to be successful. She hadn't felt even the slightest hint of Wisdom and her separating.

Beast Boy, on the other hand, looked as if he was improving exponentially. He had made the transition to his second set of cards exclusively now, so that meant he would be transforming only into animals he knew of, but had never attempted. Even with the increased difficulty Raven was certain that two things were dramatically increasing in Beast Boy, the speed of his morphing and his powers of concentration. He could focus so much more acutely now that even his reading had benefited from it. She often had to ask him something more than once if he had immersed himself in one of his books. It always made her smile when he finally looked up, and she had teased him more than once about how he now knew how she felt when he interrupted her back at the Titan's tower.

The evening brought something that Raven felt was…well, too creepy for even her. "You want what?"

"I want you to do to me whatever you did to Dr. Light."

He has the same look in his eyes that he has during his speed drill. "How can you seriously want that? It's a power that I've always avoided. Do you even know what it did to him?"

He eyed her sharply. This was more dangerous than she wanted things to be. "Robin told me what he thought. He said it was like you caused him to experience all of his worst fears, all at the same time."

She grimaced, wasn't Robin ever wrong? Robin probably wouldn't have said it if he had thought he might be wrong. "That's right…my powers kind of swallow you and open that part of your mind that holds back fear and lets it wreak havoc. It's something that my people did to the worst of criminals. Why would you think I'd do it on you? It's supposed to make the person go mad."

"But that part isn't permanent. Dr. Light was doing his same old stupid stuff again after he broke out. I want you to do it because I think it'll help me with the beast."

"How will getting so scared that your sanity runs away help you with that?" She was shouting, and she didn't see it, but nearby rocks were being enveloped in a black glow.

Beast Boy saw them, he wasn't sure if he should tell her or not…it would be harder to get her to do what he wanted if she pulled back into herself, thinking that her powers were going to go out of control again. "I want you to do it because if I know exactly what my worst fears are, than I can use them to give me the emotional serge it takes to get back in control of it." The rocks were drifting lower. She must be considering it, he guessed. "Please, Rae. I know that it's not something you like, and I know it scares you, but I'm asking you to do it so that I can at least try this. I'm not some little kid, I'll take my risks, and I've been thinking about this a whole lot lately…even more than I've thought about my studying. Please, let me try." The rocks had all been released from Raven's subconscious control. Luckily, she didn't notice the slight clatter as they hit ground.

Her frown gave way to a simple look of disapproval. "I don't like this at all…the only reason I'm going to do it is because you've thought about it enough for me to believe you really do know what you're getting yourself into." The frown returned. "What do you want me to do with you after we're done? You probably won't be thinking straight." His face grew harder than Raven had ever seen. It looked almost alien to her when compared with his normal jovial attitude. The closest thing she could remember where he had looked like this was when they had had to fight Terra.

"I think doing what they do in a nut house would be good, but since we don't have a straight jacket, is there some way you can tie me down on my bed? That way I can't hurt myself while I'm recovering." Beast Boy could see that she didn't like his comment about the straight jacket or that it was obvious he had planned this answer out…it didn't sound anything like his way of talking.

"Keeping you tied down wouldn't be hard…I can just use my powers or blankets or both." Cyborg could never be told about this, he would tease her and Beast Boy forever about getting into freaky things while they'd been alone on the island.

Relief at her accepting his choice chiseled away some of the hardness from his face. "Good, then let's get started. What do I need to do?"

Raven blanched. "You want to do it now? But…why now?"

His first smile of their conversation didn't calm her like he hoped it would. "I want to do it now because I don't know how long it'll take to get better after it. I want to be able to still go on our date on Friday." That same smile became much more shy when he admitted this.

Raven didn't know how to answer that. Should she tell him he was being optimistic about recovering by Friday or should she tell him that that sounded like a bit of a childish answer? No, she should be honest. Who would want to put their life on hold and if she were going to do it, she wouldn't want to wait almost a week first…especially if the end of that week had a day that she didn't want to mar the memory of by doing something like this almost the very next day. It would be the very next day from his perspective she reminded herself. She suddenly looked up at Beast Boy; she had realized how long she had just been standing, thinking everything over while he had been patiently waiting for her answer. "We'll do it now. Go get your bed ready by pulling the blanket off while I grab what I can from my room."

"'K." He only gave her a small glance over his shoulder as he walked off, she still looked worried, but nothing else had been hit by her powers…what was it that triggered it?

When they both had finished moving any sheets or blankets they had into Beast Boy's room Raven had led them into the clearing. "This won't hurt you physically like it did Dr. Light since it was Anger acting like Trigon who did that to him."

"So what should I be doing?" He felt nervous, but stuffed every scrap of it back down so that Raven could go through with what he had chosen.

"You just stand there." She took a calming breath. "I'm sorry." And with her words barely having reached him, Beast Boy watched as Raven's eyes blazed white while black tendrils emerged from her cloak. He found himself in their grasp and was pulled into her robe, though he never seemed to get to her.

It was a strange experience…he was sure he should have already bumped into her leg by now. And then it started. It was like he was living through all of his worst fears like they were happening right that very second to him. They flooded his entire mind and when they reached the brim, they overflowed. The only thing he could feel was pure fear in all its horrible glory. His only release was the joy he felt at blacking out.

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When Beast Boy woke up he was groggy and had trouble remembering how he had got into bed. Cyborg must have tied him up during the night again. He should know better. It only works till I change he thought blearily. He was ready to become a field mouse when he saw Raven asleep in a chair to his side. His brain must have decided he was awake enough to handle the truth because he suddenly remembered exactly where he was and exactly what had happened. He shuddered, but felt glad that he was thinking clearly in spite of what he had seen. He cleared his throat hoping that it would wake Raven up.

Raven's eyes popped open. She had heard Beast Boy cough or something, so she turned to look at him. All she could do was stare. He looked fine. He looked like nothing was wrong at all. Her mind locked up trying to figure it out when he said something. She refocused her eyes back onto his face. "What?"

"I said, how long have I been out?" He didn't like how she was looking at him, it made him feel like he had been out for a lot longer than he had thought. "I made us miss our date, didn't I?"

Raven still couldn't get her mouth to do what she wanted…she could tell him any day she wanted it to be and he wouldn't know. She quickly dismissed such a cruel idea from her mind. Crass would be in trouble for suggesting something that hurtful.

"Uh, Rae? Are you really awake? 'Cause I'd really like to know what day it is and stuff." He smiled weakly and suddenly she looked very upset.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Her mind had decided against the rational path…a good freak out seemed due.

"Dude! Why're you shouting? What'd I do?" He wanted to sit up, to stand, anything other than just being stuck tied up on the bed. For some reason, it didn't seem OK in his head for him to change so he could get out while she was talk…er, yelling at him.

She had managed to get at least a little control over her volume, though not her temper. "You've been out for a little over an hour! How in the world could you possible do that? And don't you dare tell me it was Robin, because it doesn't matter how much planning you do, you can't plan for your mind to just unleash your worst fears on you!" She was starting to calm down, but she desperately wanted everything to finally make sense. It was impossible, but there he was, perfectly normal. "Wait…I just thought of something. Do you remember what happened?"

Now he really wished he wasn't tied down. He didn't know why she was acting like this, but he knew that he wanted to help her calm down and feel better. He felt like holding her. "I remember. I remember what I saw too. I don't know how I'm OK now…I'm guessing that it's a little sooner than most?"

"The quickest I've ever read was about two weeks. You shouldn't even be able to string together more than three words. I don't understand…there's too much I don't know how to deal with. How did you go from being the goof and official team screw up to this? You're doing things that aren't supposed to be possible." She was giving in to the sadness that had come with her outburst. "Do I really know that little about you?"

"Raven, I didn't know I could do any of this either. I just know that I need to do it. I need to for so many reasons that I just can't let myself mess up this time. I think I'm just growing up." She was shaking badly, still trying to understand, still trying to make sense of everything that she had just left by the wayside to avoid figuring it out. "Please let me up."

His voice held kindness and concern. She used her powers and undid the knots she had made. Raven watched as the green man sat up and turned so that his legs were over the side. He stood and walked over to where she still sat in his desk chair near the foot of the bed. He knelt down and pulled her into a comforting embrace. She was still shaking a little when she felt him start to stroke her hair and tell her it would be all right and that he would help her through all of it.

Raven had never felt so cared for by anyone since she had left her mother. Beast Boy was not holding her, giving her care and comfort because she was some girl he liked, he was holding her because he was her friend and she needed the love that family could only provide. He would just do the best he could and hope that it would be enough.

When Raven realized she wasn't shaking anymore and that she was just enjoying the feeling of warmth that came from her friend in so many different ways, she returned his hug with as much of her friendship in it as she could. "Thank you." She felt him give her one last good squeeze before letting go. "But I still really do want to understand. How are you OK right now? Didn't seeing whatever you saw terrify you?"

His tone was gentle. He would have loved to have been able to just hold her like that all night. "Of course it scared me. I felt like I almost wanted to die. But I don't think it showed me anything new. I've been thinking about what my biggest fears might be, and I already lost sleep on the nights when I would realize one of them and start to really think about it."

"So you think that you already went through most of it?" When did Beast Boy get to be so brave?

He thought a little. "Yeah, kinda. I also think I'm OK because I saw it coming. You told me how you were going to do it and when and everything. I think I was just prepared. I still blacked out. Dr. Light was awake when he came out of it."

Raven wasn't sure if it was OK to ask the question she had, but Beast Boy had just been so caring towards her, maybe he wouldn't be mad. "Beast Boy?" He turned to face her. "What did you see?"

Looking at her from his place on the floor he pondered her question. "Are you sure you want to know? They might be things that scare you too."

The concern on his face made her feel as safe as she could feel. She knew that he would tell her if she asked and she knew he would comfort her no matter what. "I want to know because I want to know you better. You're the only person to ever come through this as though it was almost nothing. I want to know what you faced."

He sighed. "OK, but I feel the same way about this as you did about doing that thing to me." He focused and organized his thoughts. "There're really only three main fears. The first one is pretty obvious. We're all at the tower. I have a bad dream or something and change into the beast during the night. And then I go room to room and…and k-kill everyone. No point or reason, I just kill everyone, and it's not the beast in control, it's me. I just look like the beast." He shuddered seeing the images play through his mind again. "In the second one everyone is mad at me because I pulled some prank or something and everybody wants to kick me off the team because I'll screw up in some fight and get myself killed. The alarm goes off and we all head out after the bad guy. While we're fighting the bad guy I act like we've already got him beat and everybody believes me. We're doing some celebrating thing when the bad guy comes back suddenly and wipes everybody out except me, but I'm hurt real bad. He tells me how everyone is dead and then he thanks me for being so stupid and kills me." Another shudder follows another replay of the horrific scenes he had forced upon him. Raven takes his hand to calm him and to encourage him to continue. "The last one scares me the most, it's the only one that I think could really happen." He lets his lungs empty and fill a few times. "In my last one you and I are a happy couple." Beast Boy went a little pink in the cheeks as he turned to the floor. "We're celebrating some anniversary when Terra comes back. She sees us and I'm so stunned by it that I run over to her. You get mad and yell at me for it and Terra gets mad that I didn't wait for her. In the end I lose both of you. Sometimes that one has either you killing Terra or her killing you, but no matter what, I end up…alone."

Raven was transfixed on his face as she followed the tear down. She didn't like him sad, she needed to change the subject. "Tell me about Terra."

He wiped away his tears with his free hand. "Why do you want to know about her?"

"Did you love her?" She didn't think this question would feel this…prickly…to her.

He looked into Raven's soft violet eyes. "I think so. I don't think it would have hurt for as long as it did after she betrayed us if I didn't."

"So…if you loved her, then why are you asking me out on dates?" It hadn't been said in any kind of accusatory way, she just wanted to know why.

"Because I think I might love you. A person can fall in love more than once. At least, I hope they can." He was smiling, but instead of her face, he was smiling at the sight of their hands still joined.

Her anxiety was building again. Suddenly it felt like they were too close. "I think they can." Stupid Affection, nobody asked! "Uhm…I think I need to go to bed."

His smile had exploded like a fourth of July firework with what she had said, he could be perfectly fine with waiting for her to finish getting used to him, truth was, he had a huge jumpstart on her from all their time in Titan's tower that he had spent trying to learn more and more about her. "Oh, OK…night then, Rae."

He had stood and helped her out of her chair. It wasn't until she was turning to head out the door that he had finally let go of her hand. "Good Night, Beast Boy." She said looking over her shoulder, and then she was gone.

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(A/N) This chapter really developed strangely for me. I had only the vaguest of ideas of how things were going to go when I started writing, but the deeper I got into the chapter, the more clear the picture became. Felt kind of cool. Though, I don't think being able to write with an increasing clarity makes this a good chapter, but I'm not complaining about it.


	12. Of Moonlight

(A/N) This may surprise some of you, but I'm actually a clone of Andrew Johnson. Yeah, it's weird being the clone of the first president to ever go through impeachment proceedings, but I cope. I have this weird paranoia about letting my friends go to movie theaters alone though. Thank you for the good reviews, I really like the written out ones I've been getting. Regrem Erutaerc, I thought I'd let you in on a few things 'cause you seem to really think a lot about Raven's emotions. Happy is last in my ordering because pink is the closest color to white out of all of them. Also, I won't have very much of various emotions falling for Beast Boy, because I'm trying to hold them to their core set of emotions. They go to neutral when not in their normal field, except for very small shows of other emotions. Hence why Anger told Beast Boy to shut up after he complimented her. She was annoyed that he had an affect on her, i.e. the very slight blush. If I had Anger expressing love, she would be out of her element, and I'm trying to keep them true to those elements by just making the one in charge of whatever emotion that's supposed to be being felt more powerful in their expression of what was supposed to be felt. So if Beast Boy does get even Anger to love him, then Affection is gonna be pretty juiced.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Of Moonlight – Beast Boy has a date with DESTINY! _No he doesn't! _He doesn't? _No, he has a date with Raven. _Oh yeah! _Idiot._

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"We should really give it a name." Raven and Beast Boy had just finished discussing about what the beast might want after he had found some kind of den to lay claim to. Raven had gotten tired of just calling it 'it' or the 'beast'.

"A name? You mean like, Larry or something?" Naming it, when it was him, was too confusing.

She sighed. "I meant like giving a name to what kind of animal it is, but I guess a personal name would be OK too."

"So what do we call him? I like my name…I mean my real name, but it would be confusing to hear that part of me go by it. What are some good cat names?" He looked thoughtful while he stood.

Raven felt very foolish for a second; of course he had a real name. What kind of parents would have named their son Beast Boy? "I'm thinking that Muffin or Snowball just aren't gonna cut it for him."

Beast Boy laughed. "That's pretty funny, but yeah…so what name then? Something that kind of describes him? Yeah! A name that gives a hint at what he is or what he's like."

"He's big, predatory, cat like, but he looks a little like a wolf too, and he's very wild, everything is about carnal or primal needs." Raven pondered the points she had enumerated. "Cullen means young animal…does that work?"

"Cullen? Uh…yeah, that works 'cause it can be said like the creature is called a Cullen or its name is Cullen." Weird…it has a name now. "Uh, Rae? Can we do my changing drill now?"

"That sounds OK, but why so quick after lunch?" Raven didn't like thinking about her training. She was having a lot more trouble figuring out how to get her and Crass to feel like they completely needed to rejoin. She just didn't fully see why she needed Crass, and it had caused her a lot of headaches having to listen to the least cultured of her emotions.

This week couldn't have gone any faster. He tried to hold back his grin, but it was a pointless attempt. Not smiling when he wanted to was just something Beast Boy had never learned how to do. "I need time to get set up for tonight." He felt his cheeks go slightly pink and quickly looked away.

Raven stared at him for a second. Tonight. This is Friday. Tonight. The panic that she hadn't remembered to have during the week suddenly seemed to have caught up with her. She hadn't realized so much time had passed. How could she forget it was Friday already, she berated herself? She snatched at a passing thought. Beast Boy. He had kept them both so busy and had talked only about things she could talk forever about, things like her favorite Poe poems. He had asked her so many questions about things that she had read or studied. He was distracting her! Raven wanted to curse because of how obvious it was that Beast Boy had learned some things from Robin about manipulation. At least he used it in a good way. She was glad she hadn't spent the week stressed out in addition to her frustration with Crass.

Beast Boy just watched Raven as she seemed to be arguing about something. At least, that's what her eyes looked like. She had a panicked look, then realization, then something that looked like regret, anger for a brief bit, and finally calm. He thought it would be safe to talk to her again. "So is it OK if we do my training now?" He tried to look blank, he just wanted her to hear his question and answer it without thinking that his way of looking at her meant something. She would just take longer.

She sighed. "Yeah, come on…we didn't get to meerkat last time and I want to see what it looks like."

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Raven sat on her floor almost dreading going back into her mirror to talk to Crass all afternoon. Maybe she wouldn't be so bad this time, she thought hopefully, though she didn't really believe it.

When she landed in front of Crass'…well it was really a kind of slum compared with her other emotions, she just walked straight in through the arch. The week had taught her that she could waste almost an hour sometimes if she waited for Crass to answer her…well, knock would be close enough.

Crass' slum had books, laundry, and garbage littered about. Raven had no idea where she had gotten any of it, it's not like there were clothing and convenience stores in her mind. There were some rocks of a decent size here and there that Crass had graffitied. The thing she liked least about all of this was that she didn't know why she would ever want to do anything like what Crass did. It all seemed pointless at best.

She finally found Crass asleep on top of some shirt that looked vaguely like one of Starfire's. "Crass…Crass? CRASS!"

The orange cloak finally shifted. "Why'd you have to wake me up? I was having a good dream, gloom girl."

"Crass, you know why I'm here…why do we have to go through this every time?" Raven could already see the headache at the end of the tunnel.

"We have to do it every time because you still refuse to accept me out of stubborn stupidity." Rather than get up, she just rolled over to face Raven. "Why would I want to join back with you, so that I never get to take another nap again? You're so prudish that I'd be locked up worse than Anger was because of your dad." She rolled back over. "Tell me when you're ready to actually find out if you've got enough brains to figure out why you can't merge with me."

"Why didn't you just tell me this kind of stuff right off the bat? It would have saved a whole lot of time if you actually said what you wanted!" Frustration filled Raven's mind…all she needed to do was ask what Crass wanted to do and do it. It was wonderfully maddening to find out after a week of listening to Crass talk about every gross sounds she liked.

Crass rolled over again…a record for movement in an hour time span. "I thought you were supposed to be smart enough to figure it out. I WAS telling you what you needed. You're supposed to find out what we like and then you admit it to yourself enough that I can get back in. Instead, you just act like you always do when I'm around, like I'm the foreign emotion that prim and proper little Raven couldn't possibly have. Flat out denial is all you've ever given me." She rolled over again to get more comfortable. "You may have been afraid of most of your emotions, but you're not afraid of me, you're embarrassed. What kind of stupid acceptance is that?"

Raven rubbed the bridge of her nose. Crass didn't sound upset, she was just being rude about how Raven wasn't doing things right. "So what, I go around saying I think burping is funny and take naps at the drop of a hat? Yeah, that'll work great for me…trying to catch some bad guy, but oh…wait! I gotta take a nap now."

"Yeah, cause I'm just asking you to be lazy. I'm asking you to admit that you want to do this stuff sometimes. Admit it to me, yourself. Whatever. Just stop being an idiot." Crass sat up and pulled a bag of chips that looked well past their use by date and started munching them down. "I can remember the last nap I took before you broke me off of you. It was the most wonderful thing I can remember. I want back in, but you just want to pretend I don't exist."

Raven's eyes went wide. "You can remember before you were here?"

"No, gullible, but I can imagine. I think I'm right, but I won't know till you admit that I'm a part of you." She wiped her hands and mouth on her robe and just walked off.

"Hey! Who said we were done?"

"I did, deal with it. You gave me that freedom, so back off." And she flew off.

Raven sighed deeply. How could she let something like that back in? It felt like it would be a sure fire way to alienate herself completely from the others. Sighing again, she made her way to the forbidden door.

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Raven had just lain on her bed for the rest of the afternoon. She didn't feel like doing anything. She just wanted to sleep away her time rather than deal with that annoying, frustrating, doppelganger, Crass.

She was just drifting off to sleep when she heard a knock at her door. Beast Boy, the date…oh crap, oh crap, oh crap…

"Rae? Are you in there?" He hoped that she was, since it would be a lot harder to find her if she was somewhere else on the island or in Nevermore. He heard her call back through the door.

"Yeah, just give me a second." She had gotten up and quickly checked her hair. A sigh of relief at remembering that her hair just kind of fell into place. She checked her leotard and cloak to make sure there wasn't anything on them and seeing that there wasn't, she went to the door. "Hey, Beast Boy. I…" She had opened her door to be greeted, not by the green young man, but by a bouquet of wild flowers. There were lots of different colors and kinds; he must have really scouted around to find them all. She took them from his outstretched hand. "They're…beautiful." She inhaled deeply, they smelled very fresh. "Thank you."

He smiled at her and offered his hand. "You ready?"

She was glad that she only froze for a second. "Sure, just…let me put these somewhere." Ducking back inside she set the flowers on the little desk near her bed. She would need to remember water and something to put them in after…after their…she tried her hardest and let go of the fear and panic that kept trying to take over. When she got back to the door she saw him offer his hand again. She looked at it with a little trepidation, but took it anyway. "So…do I get to know where we're going and what we're doing now?"

"Nope." He smiled. "You get to know where when we get there and what when we do it!" He felt so alive! He was taking Raven on a date, no one would interrupt anything, and she was looking as nervous as he felt beneath his sheer excitement. "I think you'll like it though…I had to really work had to get us the good seats." He turned to see if she thought his little joke was funny and she smiled wanly at him. Good enough, he thought.

Raven didn't like to admit it to herself, but she was intimidated by how calm Beast Boy seemed about all of this. He had passed out after talking with her emotions, shouldn't he be showing something that looked like the anxiety she was having just holding his hand? She was still lost in thought when they stopped walking. It startled her out of her little reverie and she gave a small gasp looking around. He had found one of the waterfalls.

Her reaction to first seeing the place was exactly what he wanted. He wanted her to be caught off guard by how beautiful the scene was. He had moved their little folding tables and chairs earlier and set them under a weeping willow that stood about a little ways off from the base of the falls. There was a candle, and he had remembered to clear away the branches that would hang a little too close to them or the little fire once it was lit. He had even trimmed back the branches that would block their view of the falls. He guided Raven to the cozy little setting he had arranged and pulled back her chair for her.

Feeling overwhelmed by everything she still managed to thank Beast Boy for pulling out her chair. Once she was seated though, she found herself alone. She turned around and didn't see him behind her either. "Beast Boy? Where did you go?"

He called out from behind a tree a little further downstream. "I'm just getting dinner. I'm coming right back."

He finally emerged from behind the tree carrying two platters or plates of some kind, Raven couldn't tell, but the food was covered by something that looked like a makeshift lid made out of leaves. As Beast Boy set one down in front of her, she saw that she was right. He had taken some large leaves and tied a few of them together by the stem to make his plate covers.

After he had set his down he moved to where he could reach both lids and took them off with a flourish. "Tada!"

Raven laughed. "How did you manage to make a hamburger out here? Where'd you even get the bread?"

He reached out with a match he had lit and used it to light the candle. "I saved it after I remembered you saying something about wanting a cheeseburger, so it might be a little stale. I did everything I could to keep it fresh, sorry if it doesn't taste just right." He was proud that he had given her a surprise she liked so much, but just as much, he was worried she wouldn't like it once she took her first bite. "We didn't come with any cheese, so I couldn't do that part."

"Doesn't meat go bad if you have it around for this long?" It was a sweet thing to do, but not if it poisoned her.

He smiled, but looked away. "It…uh…it isn't…it's, uhm, fresh."

She stared. "You…"

"Yeah." Another weak smile came and went while he kept his face turned straight down at his food.

She was still staring at him. He had even gone against his own nature to do this nice thing for her and she was acting as scared as that deer had been when the beast…no, when Cullen had attacked it. "Thank you." She couldn't think of what else to say and she thought she better start eating before she looked ungrateful. She picked up her burger and closed her eyes as she bit down. It tasted fine. The bread hadn't gotten stale, and the burger itself was pretty tasty. "This is really good," she said after finishing her first bite. He had been staring at her closely as soon as she had reached for her food.

"You really like it?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"You're not just saying that 'cause of what I had to do, right?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"No, it really is good."

"'Cause I would hate it if you were eating that when you didn't like it. I could give the thing a proper burial if you didn't like it."

He was getting on her nerves. "But I like it." She forced herself to smile even larger.

"It was a gof…"

"I said I like it! Knock it off!"

He quickly grabbed his fork and started eating his own food, various steamed vegetables. "Sorry." He just pushed at the broccoli he had. "I'm just nervous."

"Good. I was getting tired of feeling like the only one." She smiled lightly at him and took another bite.

He returned her smile and ate in earnest. It was nice to just enjoy her company. "It's kinda funny. Since we eat every meal together with just the two of us this doesn't feel all that strange."

She thought about that while she chewed and smiled. Raven felt calmer about the whole thing, they had been doing things like this every day since they'd arrived. Why had she been so nervous about this, she lightly chided herself?

Beast Boy couldn't help but look at her, she seemed so content. She seemed happy. His heart felt twice as large knowing that he had helped her to feel like that. "Rae?" He smiled, watching her taking a drink of the water that had been on the table.

"Yeah?" She couldn't help herself in smiling at him.

"After we're done here I have another place to take you, we kind of have to be there on time." He was sure he would pop from everything that was going on inside him.

"OK, I'm just about done. You want to go now?" Wait…he didn't say where they were going…he just said they had to be on time. Suddenly she wasn't so calm again. Surprises were nice, but they needed to be spaced further apart so that she didn't have this many butterflies fighting for air space in her stomach.

He smiled weakly. "We'll go when you're done."

Her appetite had abandoned her. "I'll just finish this later." Raven felt gratitude for being so permanently pale. She was sure that if she weren't that Beast Boy would have noticed the color drain from her face.

He got up quickly and covered their leftovers with his leafy lids. He then helped her out of her seat. Taking her hand in his he led her off towards the cliff that the waterfall was falling from. "We'll need to fly to get there, just follow me on up." He changed into a humming bird and started to zip straight up the rocky face of the mountain.

Raven wasn't expecting him to change into something small, she also wasn't expecting him to be so fast she thought as she glided up after the little green blur. "Slow down a little, Beast Boy. It's getting dark and I can't see you that well." She suddenly had a little pure green humming bird right next to her who easily kept up as she rose to the top of the cliff.

After they had reached the acme of the climb Beast Boy changed back into himself. "It's just over here." He took her hand again and led her past a few trees that had managed to find a place to hold onto the craggy rock. "OK, now we just sit here and wait."

All Raven could see in front of her was a dark, open horizon that stretched below the opposite side of the mountain they had just come up. The sunset was in the other direction she thought as she settled next to Beast Boy on a fallen tree.

"I thought you might like this more than a sunset. The moon rises just over there." He pointed out past a part of the island that dipped back in towards them. He then let his head rest on his knees and watched for the moon, looking at Raven out of the corner of his eye every now and again.

Raven watched where Beast Boy had pointed and after a few minutes the silvery orb started to rise out of the ocean. She smiled softly at the crescent form that slowly showed more and more of itself. "It's beautiful," she said as she took his hand. "Thank you for bringing me here to see all of this. It's been really nice."

He felt ready to faint when she had taken his hand with hers. "I want to tell you why I think the moonrise was a better thing for us to come watch than the sunset."

She smiled at him shyly. "Then tell me." She didn't like to admit it, but if this was how he was going to treat her, then she wouldn't mind this happening again.

"When I think of you I think of the moon. Your skin just seems to be kissed by moonlight. You can't really see colors at night, but when it isn't black, it looks like purple shades to me. Your hair and your eyes remind me of that night sky color. But your lips…" He turned away from her. "It's like you have the stars in your smile, you just let the stars go out too much. I think you should smile a lot more." He slid his eyes over to her, the feel of her hand in his giving him an urge to touch those stars.

Raven felt very odd. She had never felt this…drawn…to anyone, not even Malchior, and that scared her. But as scared as she felt, she didn't want the feeling that her fear was mixed with to end. She had never known what to do with a boy, she didn't even know if Beast Boy was going to do anything or not. Because of how unsure she felt, she decided to just do what she normally did when she felt this strongly in a situation and she grabbed Beast Boy in a hug. He felt warm to her and he was soon holding her in his arms, her head resting on his chest. She liked the feel of them sitting there like that, so she just kept on holding him while they continued to watch the moon rise higher and higher into the night sky. He was absentmindedly stroking her hair. "I wouldn't mind doing this again…you don't need to make me anything with meat next time." She smiled turning her face up towards his.

He saw her looking up at him. "I wouldn't mind either." Her face was so close to his, and she was holding him so tightly, AND she was smiling. It was more than his poor heart could take and he passed out.

Feeling him suddenly fall backwards Raven was pulled with his limp form over the back of the tree trunk. She Landed on Beast Boy, so she didn't hurt herself, but she didn't know what had just happened. "Beast Boy?" Seeing he was passed out she laughed at her rotten luck at having been on such a great date with a guy who passed out whenever he hit his 'being close to a girl and having her pay attention to me' maximum. "Guess we need to train you on that too." She helped him into a sitting position and sat next to him, waiting for him to wake up.

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(A/N) I finally realized why I empathize with the whole Beast Boy and Raven pairing. I was reading some old journal entries, and in the entry I had listed out a number of things I did as part of my personality that some acquaintance didn't understand about me. It read like a "Why Beast Boy jokes around and is generally a goof" essay. Kind of funny that I acted so much like he does, I still act a lot like he does (the whole, not liking people not laughing or smiling, corny humor, immaturity, and love of video games thing). And for the other half, girls like Raven are the ones I'm attracted to, sarcastic, smart, and a little dark. I don't know why, I just find those things appealing. So I'm probably just projecting myself onto the show, which is probably why I like it.


	13. In a Word

(A/N) I thought about why I didn't have Beast Boy kiss Raven, and I think the main reason is because he would be too panicked (been using that word a lot in this story) to go through with it. So for those of you waiting for the magical moment to happen…you might be waiting indefinitely. There're still some things ahead that could make them not want to be in a relationship. What you may want to think about instead is the moment they're in now. Enjoy it while it lasts and all that.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – In a Word – A confrontation-laden story about learning self-mastery. (A/N I just had to point this out…you now know what's 'in a word'. **snicker** Sorry, I love puns and their ilk.)

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Beast Boy got out of bed and felt like singing. Remembering that he was about as good at singing as Starfire was at cooking he decided to ignore the impulse. Instead he used the abundance of energy he had to go get food for breakfast.

Raven, on the other hand, woke up cranky. She had kept having dreams about the date where Beast Boy kept fainting whenever she felt like things were perfect. They woke her up because she always panicked, trying to catch him before he hit something as he fell. She was reaching for her cloak when her hand stopped. The cloak hung off the back of her desk chair, and it was brown. "So…I guess that means that you only change colors when you're on me. And whatever emotional color I am, you are." She had said all of this to the garment, it felt comforting to discuss this thought aloud, and the bit of cloth was all that was available at the moment.

Raven finished grabbing what she would need and was already starting to head off for her morning shower when Beast Boy met her headed in the other direction. He was carrying some freshly cleaned fruits and vegetables in a basket in one hand, and a large pail of water in the other.

"Morning, Rae." He still felt embarrassed about passing out during their date. He was sure that if he hadn't he might have had even more reasons to smile. "I got breakfast today."

She gave him a small smile. It hadn't been his fault she couldn't sleep. "Good morning, thanks. I'll be back after I'm done with my shower."

"'K." As she walked away he mentally berated himself for letting his mind wander. "I gotta get Cullen under control. The more control I have over him, the more time I can spend with Raven." He had mumbled this all to himself as he finished bringing everything into camp.

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Raven suspended gravity's hold on her and rose into the air a few hundred feet. "OK, Beast Boy. I'm ready."

Beast Boy bent forward and was the Cullen instantly. He marveled at the feeling of it since he was awake this time. He didn't have control, but he knew what was going on, it was like having a dream where you're inside of whoever you're dreaming you are. It was very strange. He couldn't choose where to look, so every time the Cullen turned it's head he got a little disoriented. This would be a cool thing to tell Raven about later.

Cullen looked around the camp just as he had done last time, when a familiar scent struck his nose. He made has way towards Raven's temporary home and stalked around the outside, looking for a way in. He found the window and jumped through it, smashing glass over Raven's floor. Once inside he looked around for the girl and having not found her, he jumped back out through the opening he had made.

Beast Boy cringed watching what the Cullen had just done. Maybe telling Raven that he was awake for all of this wouldn't be such a good idea after all…

Raven fumed. She was curious, at first, when Cullen had seemed to be looking for her, but when he broke into her room through her window, she was JUST a bit upset. She had almost flown down to eject the foul thing from her private space when he jumped back through the window. Seeing him start to trot off back towards the mountain she flew after him still in a huff.

When he finally reached as far as he had explored the last time he had been there he continued up the rocky beginnings of the mountain that loomed overhead. He was moving towards the craggy parts, still apparently seeking a place to claim. Coming around a sharp boulder that jutted out he found what he was looking for. There in the side of a ten-foot drop was a cleft in the granite that was only two or three feet wide. Raven was trying to see if she could catch a glimpse inside of the hole, but she wasn't able to find a way to get the view she wanted without putting herself back within the reach of Cullen.

Beast Boy was actually enjoying what was happening. He was starting to realize he could tell what the Cullen was feeling and the cave had made him very pleased. It had a den, and it was a crucial thing to it for some reason.

Raven was just floating in place, waiting for Cullen to come back out when a green blur popped out of the rock face. She blasted off as fast as she could, but it was difficult. At least this time the sun's still up, she thought, as she pulled back closer behind Cullen as he sprinted through the trees. When he suddenly stopped Raven was ready, having reminded herself that he was liable to do things like that if he were hunting. Instead of going into a crouch, he instead just raised his head and stared up at Raven. He let out a growl of some kind, but it didn't feel threatening. She focused on the tall creature and let her mind drift inside of his. She was surprised to feel Beast Boy, full awake and enjoying just looking at her. She descended to Cullen smiling softly. "You figured out how to get control!" After she had touched down she walked over to him. "OK, Beast Boy, change back and tell me how you did it."

Fear for Raven was all that Beast Boy had. She must have felt me inside, and not known that I'm not in control. His fears were only worsened by what the Cullen was feeling. Ownership. Territory. Mate. Beast Boy tried to scream for Raven to run, but he had no control over his vocal chords and he could only watch as the great beast suddenly snatched Raven from the forest floor.

The ground was going by at a terrific pace as Raven was held tightly in one of the large creature's arms. She didn't know why Beast Boy was doing this, but it was scaring her. "Beast Boy, stop! Let go…I don't like this!" She remembered that he couldn't talk when he was in another animal form and probed his mind. What she felt raised the level of her horror. Beast Boy was afraid for her…he didn't have control. She was too scared to be able to pull the focus she needed for her powers. But sooner than she thought possible, they were back at the cave.

Cullen placed her inside of his den and followed in proudly. Beast Boy calmed down some when he felt that the thing wasn't going to hurt her at all. He still felt very nervous for her being trapped in such a small space with it. She was in front of them now.

Raven felt the beast loom closer to her. It wasn't charging, but the much slower advance made her even more panicked than when he had snatched her out of the air. She backed up against the back wall and it still proceeded forward till it was mere inches from her. It stopped and leaned its head closer to hers and sniffed at her hair and face. After it had done this for a moment it went back closer to the cave entrance and laid down. Raven was too on edge from everything to leave where she was yet, especially since it sounded like it was growling softly as it laid where it was. No, it wasn't growling, it was…purring? That was what it sounded like. Like it was purring contentedly about the current situation. This was too weird. She sat down on the ground and just watched him as his purring grew softer and he drifted into sleep.

Beast Boy was feeling a bit claustrophobic now that the Cullen had closed its eyes. He couldn't see anything any more, and he still couldn't control his own body. The large cat was at least happy. It had been purring steadily since Raven had been placed into the cave. "All I want is to be able to open my own eyes." Hearing his own voice echo softly in the cave his eyes did just what he wanted. He instinctually looked down at his hands to see if he was still the Cullen. He had changed back again, and Raven was talking to him.

"Are you back?" She still kept her distance; she hoped that Cullen hadn't just learned how to use Beast Boy's morphing ability.

"Yeah." He turned to her. "I'm sorry! I could see everything, but it was like I was just a passenger. Are you OK? Please be OK." He desperately wanted her to be OK.

She gave a small, tired smile. "I'm fine, just…a little shook up. It kind of freaked me out. I mean, I looked in Cullen's mind and found you awake while he was just staring at me." She left out how she had seen Beast Boy admiring her. "Why did he bring me in here? What does he want with me?"

Beast Boy looked down at the floor. It made him very uncomfortable to think about what that…Cullen had been thinking right before he grabbed Raven. "Uhm…well…he kind of thinks of you like his…uh…yeah, like his."

"What do you mean by 'like his'?" She felt she knew, she just didn't want it to be true.

"Like his…his, uh, mate." Beast Boy swallowed, it didn't work out so well with how dry his mouth had gone. "Right before you flew down and he grabbed you, he made a little growl, roar thing. He was calling you to him."

Raven was glad she had already joined with Wisdom, it would have driven her mad having to wait to get the clear thoughts that were coming to her now. "He, uh, he wouldn't try to do any…anything to me, would he?" The idea was almost more frightening than anything she had ever faced.

Beast Boy's eyes widened when he understood what she meant by 'do'. "Whoa! I didn't think about that…uh…" He needed more than to just reassure her, he needed to be able to believe whatever he told her himself. He thought hard about what he had found out about cats during his studying. "I don't think he would…do…uh, that. Cats do…that…when the girl cat is in heat. So, you shouldn't have to worry since you're not a cat. People don't really go in heat." Beast Boy frowned remembering the Cullen sniffing Raven so earnestly. "I think he wants you to be though." He hadn't meant it to come out so blunt, but he didn't want to have another accident like today.

"So I'm safe, but only barely because he thinks I should be in heat?" The whole thing was sadly, miserably, darkly funny. In about the same way that someone having something hit them wonderfully forcefully in the groin was. It hurt like mad for the person being hit, but was enjoyable by onlookers if they didn't mind that the person was in pain.

Beast Boy stood up and walked back to her. "Come on, let's get out of here." He helped her to her feet and kept her hand in his as they walked out. "Rae…I'm sorry. I don't think it's safe for you to be near me at all when I change. I could have done something horrible and I couldn't stop it." He faced her full on, not caring that his tears that he had been hiding were plain for her to see now. "I want you to promise me you won't get within the safety zone for any reason if I'm in that form, no matter what. I need you to promise or I won't change back into him anymore."

She saw how scared he had been for her. He was crying because of what could have happened. She grabbed him in a tight hug, badly wanting him to feel better, and wanting to feel comforted. She was glad he was returning her embrace. "I promise." She felt great peace in holding him and being held. She felt him shudder again as fresh tears came forth. "It's OK, I'm fine. You didn't do anything bad. We're OK." She was glad his silent sobs subsided as he held onto her as though he thought this was the only thing keeping him alive.

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They had walked back to their two-house town leaning on each other. Giving comfort to one another through the physical closeness they shared. Raven enjoyed the feeling, the give and take of it. It made it easier for her to let go of how scared she had been not more than twenty minutes earlier.

Seeing her shattered window, Beast Boy turned to the girl walking along side him. She was allowing him to keep his arm around her, and she was even returning the gesture with her own arm around his back. "I'm sorry about your window. I'll clean it up and figure out how to fix it." He smiled at his thoughts. "I'm glad this all happened after our date."

She turned her head towards him. "Me too." She then felt the urge to kiss him. Not a regular kiss, just something like a peck on the cheek. She forced the urge back down, afraid of it and not ready to face those kinds of things after all that had just happened. 'Screw that,' she felt Crass say and suddenly she found herself kissing Beast Boy. It was not the cheek peck she had originally thought to do. Her head swam while it happened; it felt…as good as she had always read it was supposed to be.

Beast Boy, though very much confused, returned her kiss for all he was worth. When they had broke apart he looked at her lightly purple eyes. He couldn't think what you could say after something like that, so he only smiled at her and let out a nervous giggle.

Still caught in his arms, and feeling a little light headed she couldn't help but feel good about what had just happened despite a strong desire to go use her mirror and punch the daylights out of Crass. She smiled at his giggle. "That was very nice." Her cheeks went a little red at having admitted it to him. "I, uh, I haven't done that before."

He blushed as he answered her, "me neither. Not unless you count dreams."

She kept her arm around him but turned back towards camp. "We should go get something to eat."

"Can't we just order out? Have Robin or Cyborg bring us out something? It'll only take them, like, four hours." He laughed a little.

"Come on." She smirked. "I'll cook if you help so that it doesn't turn rancid."

"Deal!"

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"Crass? Where are you?" Raven had almost yelled herself hoarse calling out for her slovenly self.

"She's not here. She has been in Affection's realm." Intelligence had heard Raven's calls and was seeking to help so that she could return to reviewing Raven's knowledge, looking to see if everything that had just happened really was her first time.

Raven turned to her yellow clad self. "What's she doing in there?"

Her sigh going unnoticed by Raven, Intelligence answered, "Making a nuisance of herself per the status quo."

Raven stormed off to so that she could finally tell off Crass. She'd entered an hour or so ago, after she and Beast Boy had eaten a late lunch, and she was losing her patience rapidly.

She stopped just outside of the archway that would take her to Affection and Crass. She touched one of the stones and waited for Affection to answer.

Affection finally showed after nearly ten minutes, though she did look apologetic about her having taken so long. "Raven, what may I do for you?"

"I need to come in so that I can talk to Crass." The apology being in a look instead of being said and the wait were slowly killing off the last of her patience, so she just walked in under the arch, not waiting for Affection's invitation.

"Uh…" Affection followed quickly after her. "You didn't wait for my approval."

"I just really need to find Crass, besides, you always let me in." She stalked past some new pictures that she didn't stop to examine, she look at them later.

Affection frowned. "I'm not so certain I would have let you in this time."

Raven stopped dead in her tracks. "Huh? Why wouldn't you let me in?" Seeing Affection frown was very disconcerting. She had never seen affection have any other expression than some kind of smile.

"You broke your promise."

The simple answer evaded Raven's understanding. "What promise did I break?" Remembering how fickle her emotions could be she quickly added, "and how did I break it?"

Affection's frown looked slightly worried. "You broke your promise to let us run free. Yet, as soon as I started guiding you with how you were feeling about Beast Boy you suppressed me." Her eyes started to take on the glassy appearance of those ready to cry. "How can you ignore such obvious love as he has shown?"

"I…" She was having trouble coming up with an answer. "I'm not ignoring him, I'm…I was scared." She sighed and sat down on the ground. This talk would do them both some good. "I like the way he makes me feel, I like the things he does for me, and…I like to make him feel good too. You said those would be how I would know if I liked him. What am I supposed to do next?" She hoped that her real desire to learn would help Affection to cheer up.

Affection finally allowed a smile to return to her face. "I know that you are scared. Malchior's treachery has left scars. Realize that Beast Boy will not repeat those actions."

Raven had shifted uncomfortably at the mention of what that evil dragon had done by using her desire to have someone understand her against her. "I know he won't." She thought about him and everything he was and did. "He made me a gopher burger." She chuckled lightly at hearing just how ridiculous the statement sounded, yet it had been a very powerful show of how much he liked her. "I feel more than what I felt with Malchior, and I thought I was in love with HIM."

"You were, to an extent. Malchior made you feel accepted and normal. He made you feel pretty. But, love of that sort is quickly built and quickly dismantled. You loved him because he gave you exactly what you had wanted with affection added to it." She had drifted to Raven's side and placed her hand on the Titan's shoulder.

"If that was love, why was everything you had me do with Beast Boy just to see if I could like him beyond being friends?"

Affection smiled sadly at Raven. "I said those things so that you wouldn't be so afraid. I'm sorry, Raven, but I lied for much the same reasons as you would in telling someone that you're fine regardless of how upset you might really be about a rather large creature having just frightened you badly."

"Oh." Raven started playing with the hem of her cloak. "So I…and Beast Boy…he's…I lo…I love…him?"

"Yes and no." Raven's look was so startling she guessed it would be safer for her to explain immediately. "You love him to an extent, but not in the full way that you would think of real love as being. You will know you have arrived at that point when you seek for his happiness above your own. And, if you are truly loved in return, he will seek your happiness above his."

Raven looked up at Affection and her heart dropped. "But he already does that. At least, that's what it feels like, and even inside his mind it feels like that."

Affection looked over to a picture. "Yes. It would appear that Beast Boy truly loves you." Affection knelt in front of Raven. "You must not hurt him." It was a command. A command from Affection, and it had a deep impact in Raven.

Several thoughts ran together in Raven's mind. "I wouldn't ever hurt him on purpose…and…does you telling me that mean that part of me is truly in love with him?"

"Yes." Affection stood. "Crass is asleep past the pictures of your mother." Affection then walked back the way they had come in. It was then that Raven saw that the new pictures that Affection was now looking at all had Beast Boy in them.

Raven stood and walked on till she found the lazy orange robed emotion sleeping on the ground, her arm draped over her eyes to shield them from the light. "Crass, get up. We need to talk."

"Get stuffed." Nothing beyond her lips had moved.

"I said get up!" Crass lifted her arm away and propped herself up on her elbows. "Why'd you have me kiss Beast Boy like that?"

Crass sneered a little. "Like you didn't enjoy it. Besides, it wasn't me, that's not my field."

Raven furrowed her brow. "If you di…Affection."

"Wow. Right on the first try."

Raven turned back to Crass. "OK, so what were you doing yelling to me then?"

"Being a distraction, duh. But at least you've been listening to me more lately." She went back to laying flat again, her arm under her head.

"Right. What have I been doing that you wanted me to do?" Raven stared at the rude girl in front of her.

Crass smirked. "How about that right there? Also, being short with Affection when she took so long to get you, and then you barge in past her. The nap you took after we argued. The way you wake me up. And, the great thoughts you had about me while you were looking for me before you found out I was here." She sat up to look at Raven. "I've been talking to Affection since you seem to eat out of her hand lately, and I know you like BB. You need me to understand all that 'gross', as you called it, stuff. I'm not just a pretty face that helps you let out your own relaxed attitude about appearances and stuff. And one more thing, I'm the part of you that balances out Wisdom. She told me that, so you can't deny it, gloomster."

"So you're saying that I'll understand Beast Boy's immaturity if I have some myself?" She was skeptical, but it rang true inside her head. Crass rolled her eyes rather than answer. "OK then, I want to rejoin, but only if you stop calling me those stupid names."

"Since I'll be you after this, then it wouldn't be ME doing it if it happens afterwards." She liked getting in one last parting shot.

"Fine." Raven closed her eyes and focused. She wanted this just to have it done, but a part of her that spoke more softly wanted this for the help it would provide with Beast Boy.

As they lifted into the air Raven felt the same sensation as before, the wind that didn't ever seem to do anything more than make noise, the feeling of Crass circling her faster and faster till she felt her on all sides, and then finally a forceful pull inward that shocked her with how powerful it could pull without hurting her. As soon as she had solid ground under foot again, she opened her eyes and looked down at her leotard. The pumpkin orange that greeted her eyes looked strange, but she couldn't be happier with the fact that the merger had been successful. "Cool."

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(A/N) Thirteen has always been my lucky number. I picked it because I like the irony. I decided that since this was the thirteenth chapter, then my luck would go towards our slowly progressing couple. So they got lucky. Kind of fun to write. I hope it wasn't contrived. That's been one of my main goals here since the beginning. Let me know what you thought.


	14. Through the Eyes of a Beast

(A/N) Just as a little tip-off, don't expect any lemon in this story, I just don't do that kind of stuff, plus I have a hard time believing Raven would allow it and I have a hard time believing Beast Boy would actually be able to stay conscious if there was a less clothed woman in front of him…he's kind of timid about affection. Regrem Erutaerc, I forgot one of the reasons why Happy is last. How could she be truly happy if she still wasn't whole? ;-)

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Through the Eyes of a Beast – Cullen has something like a nightmare, and Raven comforts him.

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Raven walked up next to Affection who was still looking at the new pictures of Beast Boy. She looked down and felt her cheeks go red. The picture that Affection was sighing over was of the kiss Raven had given the green changeling. Raven looked more closely at it. "When did Beast Boy get to be taller than me?"

"He's always been taller, he just slouches a lot or he's hunched forward." Affection still didn't look away from the visual memory of the moment that had her captivated. "He probably does that because he's more used to standing like an animal does."

"I always thought he was just short. Oh well, I'm outta here." Affection only mumbled a farewell as Raven drifted lazily along the path that would take her to the forbidden door. After going through Affection's archway she stopped for a second to look around at the area that was in between her emotions.

There were now large boulders every so often, and they looked inviting to Raven. She drifted over by one of them and just laid, stomach down, on top of its smooth surface. While she idled there she let a little of her power out and doodled on the large rock, carving little figures into the stone. She got up after a little while and decided to finish heading out. She caught sight of the shirt that had looked like one of Starfire's that she had seen earlier sitting at the foot of a tree. "I'll get it later." And she flew on towards the archway that would get her back to her room.

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Beast Boy's mind was in a tumble. He still felt a lot of apprehension about what the Cullen had done to Raven and about what it had thought, but that was miniscule when compared with the tumult of happiness in his head from Raven's kiss. He kept replaying it in his mind, just to remind himself how real and…cool it had been. Raven had actually kissed HIM! He felt light headed at that and sat down, not wanting to repeat his earlier performances of the boy who couldn't stay awake. "I really hope it's confusing for her too. It'd be so not fair if she wasn't having to go through anything like this."

He let his mind replay the event again, and he smiled at the feelings that seemed to explode inside him. Then he replayed what the Cullen had done, and shuddered. Things were getting intense. The thing inside him needed to be under his control soon so that he could be sure Raven would be safe. A thought struck Beast Boy. "If I'm asleep most of the time when he's awake, he's probably asleep when I'm awake. And I could feel what he was feeling, maybe I can make him feel what I feel." He thought hard about this and sprang up off his bed. "Maybe Raven can help me figure out how to do it."

Crossing the short distance between their doors, Beast Boy knocked and waited. After nothing happened for a few minutes he knocked again. He heard some mumbling and then a sleepy looking Raven opened her door. "Oh, hey, BB. I was just taking a nap. What's up?"

"I, uh…did you just call me BB?"

"Yup…you call me 'Rae' all the time, it's only fair I get to call you some nickname too." She smiled at him.

"I didn't mind, it's just you don't use nicknames." She leaned against her doorframe, smirking at him. "Did you do something? 'Cause there's something really different."

"But, can you figure it out without any help?" She smiled a little mischievously and closed her cloak more tightly around herself so that her leotard wouldn't show.

Beast Boy looked her up and down, trying to think what it could be; her actions didn't make as much sense as they had before now. But all he could see that was different was the teasing smile she wore. He looked at her with a little mischievous look of his own. "I could always make you tell me."

"And how would you pull that one off? Annoy it out of me?" This ought to be good.

If she hadn't been so obviously kidding around, her comment would have stung like the ones she usually said when he was trying to make her laugh before they came to the island. "No, I'd do this." And he changed himself into a flea and quickly hopped into Raven's room. She still couldn't see him so he changed into a mouse to get behind her. He changed back into his normal form and hugged her around her waist. "Ha! I caught you so you have to tell me."

Raven jumped a little at being grabbed so unexpectedly. "Whoa…who said you could come in?" She enjoyed the warmth that being held by Beast Boy always brought. "And who said I mind being caught?" She said leaning into him.

This was more than Beast Boy had hoped for, so it caused him to panic a little. "Uh…uhm, OK." He tried to think more clearly and he remembered that he was supposed to be figuring something out…what was it he was supposed to be figuring out? Raven is too close for me to think. Then he remembered. What's different? Why's she acting like this? "Shouldn't I get some kind of hint since I actually surprised you?" He really hoped she would…he was lost.

"A reward? That sounds fair, I mean, it was actually pretty good to get in behind me like that." She thought about what might be an acceptable hint. "I called you 'BB', and I didn't get mad about you coming into my room."

The only people who had ever called Beast Boy 'BB' were Cyborg and…a few of Raven's emotions. He tried to remember which one was supposed to be next after she had rejoined Wisdom. He had been kind of staring at Raven when Intelligence had told her about it. The memory finally floated to the top of his convoluted intellect and he had the answer. "You got another emotion back!" He heard what he said and regretted it. "No, wait, that came out bad. I meant you fused with another emotion…you always had them; just you didn't always show it! And it's been a real shock out here since you've been feeling them all so much that I have to stare at your eyes or hair when I want to look at you 'cause the color of your cloak keeps changing and it gives me a headache if I stare at it." There, he thought, nothing wrong with a little rambling.

Raven laughed a little. "Good job, think you deserve a reward for that too?"

Beast Boy's eyes widened at what reward she might give him. He tried to sound calm. "Uh, sure. I got it right, didn't I?"

An impish smile came to her lips. "Well, too bad. You only got it half right. You forgot to say which emotion."

"Aw! No fair! I knew that it was Crass, and it was hard to figure out since she's not the only one who calls me 'BB' and she's definitely not the only one who wouldn't get mad at me for coming in your room." He rested his head on Raven's shoulder. "Since I got it half right, can I get half the reward?" He tried to look as pathetic as he could.

Raven smirked at him. She turned around and gave him a big hug. "That's about half of what you would have gotten. So, why'd you come over and ruin my nap?" Her pumpkin colored leotard was now showing freely after her hug had moved her robes out of the way.

He smiled at her. "Congratulations on having another emotion return where it goes, and on setting a fascinating new trend in Halloween-for-all-the-year clothing."

"I'll let that slide since I've been teasing you too, but come on, tell me what you came for already." She slumped a little to get the point across that she didn't want to wait for him to say whatever it was any more.

It worked. "I was thinking about the Cullen." His face losing the smile he had had almost the whole time he had been there talking to her. "When I was changed into it, I could feel what it was thinking. I want to know if you can help me figure out how to make it feel what I do. I think he's probably asleep when I'm in control like I was with him before today. So, I think we need to wake him up while I'm still me."

Raven's face had turned as serious as Beast Boy's while he spoke. "You want me to see if I can find him, don't you?" Beast Boy nodded. "I'm going to do what I did with Robin when he thought he was seeing Slade. You need to sit down. Use my bed; I need you to stay still. Laying down will help."

Beast Boy looked at her bed apprehensively. It was her bed, and this was her room, and they were alone. "You sure I can't use the chair?" He asked with a little quaver in his voice.

"It's better if you use the bed…this is a lot easier if you're trying to help me. Plus with Robin there was only Robin in his head." She watched him finally sit down. "Good. Now lean back and relax, I need you as calm as you can be." He did as he was told, laying his arms across his stomach as he let go of his tension. "Just pretend you're trying to take a quick nap." She floated in place and crossed her legs. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos." She closed her eyes in concentration, feeling her way through Beast Boy's mind. She moved past his foremost thoughts, ones that had him actively seeking memories of things that made him feel at peace. She smiled inwardly at the number of them that contained her as a main character. Pressing deeper into his psyche she located Cullen. It was sleeping, just like Beast Boy had been, a sleep that had no dreams. She probed the primitive bit of Beast Boy and she sensed a strong desire for independence, freedom, and territory. She pulled herself out of the other persona contained within her friend and found the same desires within him as Cullen had. They were gentler…he wouldn't do anything that would upset someone else in the pursuit of his desires, while Cullen, just acted on them.

Raven decided to try and wake him up. She was about to say something to him when she decided that it wouldn't work since Cullen didn't understand English. Instead she directed a strong desire for him to wake up. She felt his mind starting to become active.

Cullen was angry at first. There was something disturbing his sleep and he couldn't see anything through the dark. When he tried to stand he was afraid. He couldn't move. He couldn't even twitch. He couldn't even call out to his mate for help and protection. Other predators could find him and he wouldn't be able to fight. Slowly though, he had the feeling someone was watching. They were close and they smelled…like his mate. Safe. Then he felt something that he didn't understand. He suddenly saw his mate. He didn't understand, he still couldn't move, yet he was moving. He felt the strange feeling again. It was…words. Words were be made at him. They were like growling to him, but he started to understand them. His mate had done something to him…something to help him. She was calling him, like he called to her. 'Beast Boy'. 'Beast Boy' was her…name…for him.

Raven was looking deeply into Beast Boy's eyes. "Do you feel OK? He's awake now, but just like with you, he doesn't have control." She had backed out of Cullen's mind after his fears started…it made her feel guilty that it was scared because of what they had to do.

"I'm…" After thinking he said, "fine." He sat up on the bed, still staring at Raven. "I can feel him a lot more than when he's asleep. He isn't happy about all this, but…" He smiled. "He's happy you're here. It makes him feel safe."

"I don't like that it scared him." She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands.

Beast Boy rested his hand on her arm. "He's feeling better, like I said, you make him feel safe." Standing up and stretching Beast Boy was hit with a strong hunger. "You feel like eating dinner? I'm starved."

"Sure." She said as she stood and walked with him out the door.

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Beast Boy had been gone for an hour at least, and Raven was starting to worry. He had said he was going to get some things for dinner and be right back. So, when he finally did come walking back into camp with a couple of baskets hanging from his hands, she marched right up to him. "Why'd you take so long? I thought you were just getting some stuff and coming right back."

He looked at her incredulously. "I was! Look, I got us everything we need." He showed her the few fruits and vegetables he had in one basket and the two rabbits in the other.

"You got rabbits? I didn't think you would be doing anything like that for a while still."

"I got them so I could show you how to prepare it for cooking, like I said I would. Come on, we should do this at the sink." He started to walk off, and Raven trailed behind him. Joining with Crass was going to be proven or broken with what was about to happen.

They came up on their little faucet and basin and Beast Boy washed the vegetables and fruit free from any dirt on them. "You don't want to mix what's on the animals with anything else, so make sure you clean everything else you're gonna clean before the meat." He grabbed one of the two rabbits and showed her what to look for in getting ready to skin it. "You just go up the belly and around the neck. The fur pulls off and you help it get down the legs with your knife if it won't go on its own." He pulled out a knife and performed the actions he had spoken while Raven only watched with a slightly queasy look on her face. "Make sure you don't cut any thing around the tail, you can get gross stuff all over if you do. And, to get rid of the internal stuff, you just kind of pull it out and cut as little as possible, that stuffs full of things that smell really bad and can make the meat taste horrible."

Raven marveled at how disgusting it looked, but she kept down whatever was fighting to get out of her stomach the way it had gone in. "So…that's all there is to it?"

"Yeah. Except for the head. After you get rid of that, it's just like something you can buy at the store, only fresher and still a little warm."

The 'still a little warm' had pushed Raven over the edge. She ducked behind a tree and just let her stomach eject the objects that had been squirming around during the entire lesson. Coughing and spitting out as much of the nasty taste in her mouth as she could, she came out from her hiding spot to see Beast Boy with a towel and a glass of water. "Ugh, thanks."

Giving her a sympathetic smile was all he did while she finished drinking her water. "That happens to a lot of people their first time seeing it. It's why people like to pay more to get it prepackaged from a store than it would cost if they caught it themselves." He rubbed her back a little. "When you're ready to try yours, I'll help you with each step."

"I'm not touching that. I could barely hold back what I did while you were doing that." She was horrified that he expected her to still clean the second rabbit after losing whatever had been left of her lunch.

"I'm sorry, Rae, but it's the only way to learn. Just remember, it's only gross because you haven't done it before. Like how little kids think kissing is gross."

His joke and the smirk that accompanied it didn't have much of an affect. "Cleaning a dead animal is nothing like kissing."

He smiled. "True, but eating can be. Think of this part as the anxiety before kissing. The necessary evil."

She looked down at the freshly cleaned vegetables, they hadn't needed to be gutted or had any blood that came out as they would get cut up. "I'm starting to think about joining you in your no meat idea."

"Well, too bad, 'cause this guy is already dead. I cleaned one; you got to get the other. We're not wasting this like the last time. It wouldn't be right."

Raven had forgotten that it was Beast Boy who had caught the rabbits. He'd showed her just like he promised. She finally gave in and picked up her next meal.

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For being her first time doing it herself, Beast Boy had thought Raven had done an excellent job. None of the fur had gotten on the meat, and she hadn't thrown up again. But since she was still getting used to it all, he had offered to cook the rabbit's. He was setting a bowl of the stew he had made them into in front of her. "I hope you like it, it might be a little thin as stew goes, we don't have any flour to make it thicker."

"It's OK, Beast Boy, just don't mention what's in the stew. I know what's in it, I just don't want to hear it."

Sitting down with his own diner he gave a grin that showed off his one fang. "Deal."

They both ate in silence, Raven hoping that she wouldn't remember what she had just finished doing while she was eating, and Beast Boy hungrily speed eating everything he had in front of him, getting everything ready had taken at least two hours, and he had been starving even before he left to grab the main dish and its ingredients.

Raven looked over at her companion on the island and dropped her spoon. "Why're you eating the stew?"

Beast Boy looked down at his nearly empty bowl. "I don't know, just sounded like it would be really good right now. Don't you think it tastes good?"

"Yeah, but it's meat. Why're you eating meat?"

"Just wanted some." And he finished off the last he had by drinking it from the bowl.

Raven just watched as Beast Boy got up and refilled his bowl. She remembered the last time Beast Boy had eaten meat. "I think that Cullen is influencing you."

He looked up a little startled. "But…he's not supposed to be able to when I'm in control…unless…"

"He's you, Beast Boy. You're him. There's a reason why he chose me as his…yeah, but if you can do that to him, he can do something like this to you."

Beast Boy didn't even realize he had nearly eaten half of his second bowl already. "So…then I can control him, and he can control me."

"No…it's like…like with me and my emotions. They aren't really separate from me; just they're not in the right place. You probably eat meat with him because you liked the taste when you were a kid, and he's the part of you that just acts on what he wants."

A frowned creased his face. "So I need to accept him like you with your emotions, then I'll have control of myself…but it would probably change me in some way. I guess that's unavoidable."

Raven hoped he would have a much less frustrating time than she had had with Crass. It looked like it was going to be difficult for him.

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(A/N) Sorry if you didn't like the stuff about the rabbits, but those of you who have never hunted or fished should know, it's seriously gross. Don't do it unless you're prepared to learn. I'm one of those in between types when it comes to hunting. Hunting for food, perfectly cool with that, meat tastes good. Hunting for sport, evil, if we don't need it to eat, let it live. No problem whatsoever with eating it. And, dairy rocks. Love me the some dairy products.


	15. Over Due

(A/N) Hey, I was just thinking, some of you might not have understood why you stay away from the tail when skinning an animal. It you really want to know anything about that kind of thing (I lived in WV for two years, and got to see how it was done) then it'd be best to email me directly the question. It's a little…intense…so only ask if you really want to know. Korey, I'm an old man. Twenty-eight in physical age, seventeen in maturity, and about eighty in ideals. Regrem Erutaerc, yes, Bravery will definitely have an affect on Raven's willingness to show what she feels. ;-) Nokturna, the main reason I rated the fic M was because of the animal cleaning/killing stuff. If you watched an animal being cleaned on film, then the film makers could be sued by some animal rights group, claim it was cruelty to animals despite the fact that whatever was cleaned was dead. Plus, it's very much bloody like some horror films.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Over Due – Beast Boy and Cullen come to an understanding while Raven seeks to make herself smarter.

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Beast Boy paced back and forth in his room. This was quite a feat considering the amount of junk he had allowed to pile up on his floor. He was trying hard to show the Cullen the appropriate way to treat Raven. At the same time, the Cullen was impressing upon Beast Boy the drive that he had to obtain. It was a very strange meeting of the…well, mind. Beast Boy seeking to educate the Cullen, and the Cullen seeking a more forceful resolve.

It was Beast Boy who had the first real break through. It wasn't that he finally taught the unruly being anything; it was that he started to see the division between him and it. He noticed it mostly because his mind kept thinking the same things in a circular pattern. First, he would be worried for Raven. Second, he would think firmly about how Raven wasn't to be touched by the Cullen. Third, he would feel the Cullen not accept this rule. And finally, he would feel the Cullen firmly urge Beast Boy to claim what was his. It was this last impulse that really started to unlock everything for the shape shifter. The Cullen was a very territorial creature, but not against Beast Boy. It seemed to be territorial FOR Beast Boy.

This seemed to be the key to everything. If he could see how the last bit fit, he could open the door fully. The green changeling sat down on his bed, lost in thought. He wanted to control the Cullen, the Cullen wanted him to claim his territory, he wanted the Cullen to not be a danger to Raven, the Cullen wanted Beast Boy to claim Raven, and he knew that the Cullen and himself could have strong influence over each other. But he WAS the Cullen. "Ugh…it's just too confusing. How can I be what I can't control?"

When he realized what he needed to do, Beast Boy fell off his bed. "How did I not see that? I'm such an idiot." He picked himself up off the laundry he had landed on and bolted out the door. "RAVEN! Raven! Quick! I need to show you something!"

A blue-cloaked Raven poked her head out of her door and sleepily said, "Wha…." She yawned. "What is it? It's not even sun up yet."

"I need you to put one of those shield things around me." She just stared tiredly at him. "Just do it!" He didn't mean to sound impatient, but he was too excited to let it wait.

"But I'm tired," she whined. "Why does it need to be now?"

Beast Boy mentally screamed, but decided to just make something up. "If I don't do it now, I'll lose the hold I have."

Raven glowered at him. "Fine." After she had encased him in a slightly translucent black bubble, the rest of her woke up. "Wait, lose hold of what?"

Beast Boy smirked from inside his self-appointed holding cell. "My patience." And he suddenly changed into the Cullen. He looked at Raven for a moment and changed back. "IT WORKED!"

The sphere dissolved from around Beast Boy due to Raven's shock. "How did you do that? Yesterday you were trying to get used to Cullen being awake while you were, and now you can change back like it's nothing?" A familiar feeling of having just underestimated Beast Boy hit her full in the face.

"I haven't slept since you woke him up. I've just been trying to convince him that he shouldn't scare you anymore like he did. But, it was all stupid. All the stuff I've been doing to try and figure out how to control HIM was completely stupid!" Beast Boy just dropped onto the ground, sitting cross-legged, out of relief, self-annoyance, and just plain old sleep deprivation. "I am such an idiot for not figuring this out sooner."

"Let's just pretend I don't know what you're talking about and you explain it to me." Raven was too tired to wait for him to get to the point.

"Hey! That's supposed to be my line!"

Raven stared at him. I'm acting like Beast Boy, and he's acting like Robin. Next thing I'll hear about Cyborg being able to use star bolts. "Just finish telling me!" Her eyes had gone dangerously narrow.

"You wanted me to give it a name 'cause you were tired of calling it 'it' or 'the beast', but why did we need to give it a name at all? It already has one, Beast Boy!" He laughed tiredly. "It's always been me, just, like you said, another part of me. And, since it's me, I already was in control…realizing it and acting on that let me just use the form, there wasn't any creature to master or control. I think that because I just kind of put my base needs into the back of my mind, that they get ignored a lot. I think me always putting them off because I didn't like the conflict that would come from trying to get those things and those chemicals kind of made a part of me that would be able to get the job done when it came to those deep desires, and it's my head, so I just kind of did it all sub…sub? What's that word for the part of you that thinks without you really seeing it?"

"Subconsciously. But I don't think that part of you thinks that much either." Was what he was showing her cool? Yes. Could it have waited till she had wanted to be out of bed? YES!

Beast Boy faltered for a bit. "Uh, yeah…I just did it all subconsciously…and, for me, an animal acting on instinct with my deepest desires as its desires would pull that off." Raven's eyes had glazed over while he had been talking. "Uhm, Rae? Are you listening?"

"Not really. It's cool stuff, BB, but I'm going back to bed. See ya later."

"Uh…bye." Didn't she want to celebrate with him? A slightly hurt Beast Boy walked back into his hut and just dropped onto the bed.

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When Raven finally got out of bed the sun was about halfway between dawn and noon. She went out of her room, still wearing the same clothes from yesterday and walked over to the campfire. It was just a soot bowl at the moment, no fire having been lit to cook breakfast on. She decided food could wait and walked over to Beast Boy's door. She was just about to knock when she realized that he would be asleep. He had said that he hadn't slept at all during the night. "Well…now what?"

She meandered back towards her own home. Hunger wasn't really hitting, so maybe another nap would be OK. Beast Boy would be up by then and she could find something to do. After she had gotten back to her bed she found sleep just avoided her. Staring around her room her eyes rested on her mirror. "Guess I could get in some face time with whoever's next. Intelligence. Ugh…that'll be a laugh a minute." She got up, grabbing her mirror from the desk, and sat down on the floor.

A few moments of concentration later, Raven found herself outside of Intelligence's library. She reluctantly touched the arch; she had wanted to just go in. After the glow had died down Intelligence emerged through the opening holding a book.

"You wish to speak with me?" The knowledge based emotion stated plainly.

Raven smirked at the thought that struck her. "Yup, and considering who you are, you know what about."

Intelligence cocked an eyebrow from behind her glasses. "Of course. However, that does not mean I wouldn't like to be spoken to like the others."

"Fair enough. What's the book?"

The yellow robed one looked at the tome in her hands. "It's your recent actions and thoughts. I was reviewing them to better understand what is happening."

Raven frowned a little. "What's got you feeling confused?" Intelligence wasn't supposed to have that happen. A lack of knowledge was perfectly understandable, but not being able to sort out the knowledge she had was uncomfortable.

"I'm not really confused…more…stupefied at how you've been acting. Did you know that Affection said she isn't letting you into her picture room for a while? It's very strange to see things of that nature happening."

All she did was blink in response to what Intelligence had just told her.

"And, Timid has been crying about how you haven't been listening to her lately."

"So are you going to explain all of this, or are you going to continue to lord the information over me?"

"Hiding knowledge was not my intention. Come inside, sitting down would be very appropriate for what I feel I must say." The emotion ushered the both of them into her library and sat down at a large reading table, motioning for Raven to do the same. "Have you noticed what happens, regarding the expression of emotions, after you have merged with one of us?"

Raven thought for a second or two. "Uhm…I know that I feel really…comfortable with expressing the emotion I've fused with."

"Yes, that is the main point I wish to discuss. It would appear that when you rejoin, you are bombarded with the emotion of the one just absorbed, and that you are a bit oblivious of this overflow of the particular emotion. This condition seems to last for just a few days though."

"So why didn't you say anything after I fused with Wisdom?" She felt unsettled that she hadn't noticed this herself, especially with who she had just merged with.

"What would be the harm in feeling a flood of wisdom?"

"True."

"It was Crass that caused my apprehension. She was one you never dealt with much, she was left ignored most of the time. I believe that for this reason you have been unable to fully handle her now fully present influence."

Raven thought about how she had been acting lately and felt a very sharp pang of guilt about some of the things she had said to Beast Boy. "OK, so now I know to watch for this after every fusion, thank you."

"You're welcome, but I am not finished with explaining my apprehensions. There are coming trials that will make it much harder to act on the knowledge you have received. In part, because I believe our own merger is eminent, as you have never had a problem with my influence. I will provide a balance against Crass', but I think there will be downsides as well." Raven was surprised to see her brainy side look ashamed. "I believe I will cause you to feel prideful. Your knowledge far outweighs most, and I believe it would be wrong to flaunt it, but I have never had to worry about that as I was here, safe in my library."

Raven rested her hand on Intelligence's. "Don't worry. Now that I know what's coming, I can work against the downsides."

Intelligence pulled her hand away. "Then you are already starting down the wrong path. If I felt this knowledge could stop what I believe will come, then I would not have waited. What I believe you should do with this information is to warn Beast Boy. He will have a much harder time weathering this storm. Just think of what too much of Bravery is going to do without Timid in place to balance her out."

A shocked look came onto Raven's face with the realization Intelligence had spurred. "And I wouldn't think anything was wrong, because I would feel too confident about…well, everything."

"Exactly. Until you are fully whole, and it will still be a few days after before you stop feeling overly happy, but until you are fully whole you won't be in any sort of balance with what you feel. I think everything is going to get worse before it gets better."

"That's too clichéd to be true…but it is." Raven slouched in her chair. "So, now what?"

"I believe you should warn Beast Boy and then we merge. After that, my influence will be clouded again since I will be part of the others that you have already rejoined with just as they will be part of me. However, I think that once you are in balance, you will be able to focus on each of us…just…we won't talk back. You'll have to make our replies for us."

"So, instead of coming here, I'll just start talking to myself. Sounds perfectly healthy." She sighed and got up out of her chair. "Guess I'll go tell BB the good news."

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Raven had just knocked on Beast Boy's door. She wasn't sure if he was still in there, she had been talking to Intelligence for a good while. When his door finally opened, she cringed inside. He looked like he still hadn't slept. In fact, he looked like someone who wanted to sleep, but was too disturbed by something to allow himself to. Rubbing his eye he said, "What's up, Rae?" He didn't sound thrilled to see her either.

Raven looked down at the floor. "I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier. It was pretty rude of me to just brush you off like that after you had done something so…amazing. You've already done what you came here to do, and it's only been a few weeks. I'm sorry that I kind of ruined your moment." She had thought that saying these things would make her feel better; all they did was remind her how mean she must have seemed.

She didn't see Beast Boy's reaction because she was too ashamed to look him in the eye, but she saw him take a few steps towards her. He wrapped his arms gently around her. "It's OK. Don't worry about it." He just held her, letting her know he couldn't stay mad.

"There's more…" She said as she pulled away. "I need to warn you that I'm not going to be very stable anymore. I just found out that I kind of overflow with whatever emotion I just joined with for a few days afterwards. And, I'm going to be rejoining the next two in pretty quick order. I just want you to know that I might do a lot of things that I really don't mean…and they could go, uhm, both ways."

"What do you mean by that?"

She blushed a little. "I…"

"I get it. I won't take…advantage…of anything." Now it was his turn to blush.

She smiled shyly at him. "Thank you…before things start getting too…strange, I want you to know I really do like being around you and, I want you to know that this isn't just some side effect of what I'm going through." She leaned in towards him and pressed her lips against his. She felt him start to kiss her back, his arms encircling her. She laid her hands against his sides, enjoying the wonderful sensation that poured through her into him and back again. She broke the kiss, a little reluctantly, and looked into his eyes.

Beast Boy smiled at the girl in his arms. "No matter what happens, I'm not giving up. I don't normally do this, but I'm gonna be stubborn. You'll have to live up to that whole sending me to another dimension thing to get rid of me." He smiled as reassuringly as he could.

She gave him another tight hug and allowed it to linger before she pulled away. "I'm going to go reunite with Intelligence now." She paused. "Did you want to…come with me?" She didn't like that inviting him made her nervous. She liked having him around. She just plain liked him. Why couldn't she relax when they were doing things that felt…intimate or personal?

He smiled at her. "I'd love to come." And with that, he took her hand and they walked to where her mirror sat waiting.

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To say Intelligence was surprised to find both Raven and Beast Boy when she answered the summons from inside her library would have been lying. To say that she was surprised that Raven had invited Beast Boy to come would have been the accurate statement and better explained why she still looked confused when they arrived. Intelligence may have been keeper of knowledge for Raven, but she did not have access to everything.

The three went to a more open area of floor and moved the chairs that were there out of the way. Beast Boy stepped back to give the two the room that Raven had said they would need. Intelligence came forward and asked Raven, "Do you truly have need of me, or is this merely to achieve your end goal?"

Raven looked firmly at the emotion. "I am doing this for both reasons. I really do need to have as much knowledge available to me as I can get, and I need to be able to understand all that I receive. But it would be untruthful to say that I was doing this solely for that. I want to be whole, and that means I must rejoin with you."

Intelligence smiled. It wasn't a large or even a very expressive smile. It was the kind someone would give if they had just seen things set to go their way, a smile that hinted of things to come. "Then I believe we are prepared."

Beast Boy was bewildered by the site of what was happening. It had the feel of something like a ritual, but not so formal. When the two Ravens lifted into the air he got slightly dizzy trying to follow Intelligence's circular path. He finally settled on watching what was happening with Raven, but she seemed frozen in place, while the yellow ring around her just seemed to grow more and more solid. When it shrunk almost violently inward Beast Boy gasped, the flash of light blinding him for a moment. As the spots in front of his eyes faded he could make out Raven's form descending from where it had floated in the air. She landed and walked over to him.

"Well, what color am I?" She was wearing the small smile that Intelligence had had, though her eyes held more amusement.

Looking up and down at her newly shaded leotard, Beast Boy answered the first thing that came to his head. "Kind of a dark mustard color." He smiled at her pleased look. "Good job, three down. And, you're getting to them faster just like you said. Who was the other one you were joining with soon?"

She smiled in thanks to him and answered, "Bravery. She shouldn't be too difficult considering that I have taken her support in our many battles. Besides, I also believe she would be too sure of herself to doubt. Especially now that I've so quickly merged with Intelligence, she'll think of it as a challenge."

Beast Boy was quickly seeing what Raven had been saying about the emotion overflow. She sounded like a teacher to him. "Cool. Soooooooo, are we doing that now or are you coming back later?"

Raven thought quietly. "I believe that we should do it this visit, but I wanted to ask you a few questions, just some things that have been on my mind."

"Uhm, OK." He reached for the chair behind him, but only found air. Turning around to see where it was he realized that they were no longer in the room with all the books. "Where'd everything go?"

Looking around her, Raven saw the surrounding landscape had dissolved back to her in between place. She looked for the changes that would have happened now that Intelligence was no longer separate from her. Intelligence's affect on the terrain had been the sudden appearance of a number of small buildings that dotted the landscape. They were off the main path, but there were small trails leading to each. The had the look of Greek style buildings, but on a smaller scale. Each had something written upon the front of the entryway, which told of what was in the building. They seemed to be either a collection of a period in Raven's life, the entryway showing the start and end dates of the information inside, or they were housing some category or another that was important to Raven. The one they were closest too read 'Enemies' in the words over the pillars.

Raven smiled at their changed environment. Every addition made things more and more…firm. Firm in the idea that she was doing the right thing in this quest Robin had sent them on. Firm in that she was building something that would not only help her teammates, but also help herself to be able to truly live. "This is what happens when an emotion and I rejoin. The in between world that represents me becomes more and more full of the things that make up who I am."

"Sweet!" He looked at a nearby boulder. "Why is there a carving on that rock that looks like me?"

Raven blushed slightly, and was glad that Beast Boy was looking away when she did. "Didn't you say that I could ask the questions?" Changing back to their original subject seemed like a good way to get out of answering him.

"Oh yeah, so, what did you want to ask?" He sat down on the ground and looked up at her, waiting.

She was looking him over, trying to figure out what about him made her nervous. He was just barely taller than her, though he never stood up straight, so it was almost as if he wasn't. He wasn't drop dead gorgeous or anything, just kind of cute in a mischievous way…in an almost child-like way. He wasn't especially bright; he usually just acted on impulse and avoided any kind of work that resembled schoolwork. He could be crude, unfunny, and bumbling. He could be very caring and flattering, but did those really outweigh everything else? Just because he always seemed to want the best for her didn't mean HE was the best for her. The main facts she knew were that he cared deeply for her, that he was always trying to help or uplift her, and he had this amazing ability to just blindside her with some wonderfully brilliant or thoughtful thing from time to time. It was unnerving that he could make it seem so normal for him to do this. She needed to understand. "…I wanted to know first, are you going to ask me out again?"

A sloppy grin popped onto his face. She had been looking at him like she was doing a crossword puzzle, he thought she was going to be asking much more grilling questions. "Of course! I just want to finish figuring out what to do so that it's not the same thing as last time."

"Last time was very pleasant." She replied while her eyes slid out of focus remembering the finer points of their first date. "I wouldn't have minded getting to do that again."

Beast Boy felt another of his rare cunning smiles coming on. "Yeah, I liked it too, but I think our next date is gonna be about doing something fun, like amusement park ride kind of fun!"

Raven lifted her eyes dubiously at this statement. "And how would you intend to accomplish that?"

"Sorry, can't tell you…" Though his smile stayed the same, his eyes widened. "AND! You're not allowed in my head to try and see, just like last time!"

"Fine. Next one, do you like me more than you liked Terra?" She had managed to say this casually and keep her face set as though she was asking about the weather, but only just barely. Inside her stomach clenched as she waited for him to answer. His smile had gone, and he was looking at her with somewhat sad eyes. Raven's heart sank a little at those eyes. "Oh…it's OK…I understand. We've only gone on one date and I'm just getting ahead of things. You haven't had time to find out something like that."

Raven's head had drooped a little and she looked over her shoulder towards the nearest archway. But before she could say anything more, Beast Boy spoke. "It's not like that, Rae…it's just…I thought you could tell." He started fidgeting and one of his hands moved self-consciously behind his head. "I, uh, never actually went on a date with Terra. We would go someplace and talk or leave the tower together, but it's not like anything was planned and I never got to ask her because of everything that happened." He looked at Raven's feet, feeling too embarrassed to look up. "I also never, uhm, kissed…her." His face felt hot, especially with Raven staring at him, like he knew she was. It took a Herculean effort for him to look into her eyes. What he saw was confusing to him. It wasn't her cloak color that was confusing him; he had given up on being able to guess at what the mixed colors were and what they meant. No, what was confusing him was her expression. Her eyes looked moist, and her mouth seemed caught between a frown and a small smile. She looked like she was feeling happy and sad at the same time and was trying to show them both.

She watched as Beast Boy stood and walked up to her. He stared at her, and for the first time, she noticed him standing up straight. He really was taller. It seemed like he was pulling her into an embrace in slow motion. She moved into the warmth of his touch that she had grown to enjoy and laid her head on his shoulder. "I just…I just don't want to be a replacement for her. I don't want to think that all of this is because we're here together and that's it."

"You're not a replacement. You're the girl I love, and I would love you even if I were surrounded by a million other girls." He smiled as she tightened her own grip on him.

"I still don't like that I've had to let go of my emotions here. I don't like it. I wish this could have happened at the tower instead."

Not knowing what to say, Beast Boy just held her in his arms.

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(A/N) Heh, long time between updates, I know, but it wasn't an easy weekend for me. Sleep deprivation, playing hockey, work, and a niece's birthday party made it hard for me to concentrate on writing and even harder for me to actually want to write. Strange how a tiny thing like being so tired that you can't read can stop you from writing for a little while. Anyway, let me know what you think.


	16. Name Dropping

(A/N) I wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed once again. dr.evil99, I was especially taken aback by your review. I only think it's fair to point out that since I'm the writer, I can have them end up in situations that I have knowledge of, which is how I can do the little details. Regrem Erutaerc, you always ask questions that would spoil future chapters, don't stop asking, just don't expect me to answer either. ;-)

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Name Dropping – Beast Boy impresses while Raven stresses. Ego and envy invade.

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"This place is kind of random." Beast Boy said, as he walked next to Raven. They had come to Bravery's home and she had let them in only to disappear just after they had entered. There were all sorts of obstacle course style tasks that they kept having to cross to continue down to where Bravery had said she would meet them. The rope swing over the mud had been fun, so Beast Boy did it twice. The exercise stations and sparring dummies they had seen along the way all looked well used, but the thing that made it so random for Beast Boy was the sounds of animals and monsters that came from out in the distance. It was kind of creepy.

"I think we're almost there, she said we'd see that kick bag over there when we were close. I haven't been out here in a while." She said pointing off to their side. Raven didn't really like her brave self's area. It always seemed like it was unnecessarily dangerous and too much work. When they came around the side of the latest obstacle, a number of log-like things that you had to go over quickly to avoid being rolled off of, they saw a clearing that opened into a small arena with seats on all sides and several archways behind it.

Beast Boy eyed the arches; they all looked exactly the same. "Where do those go?"

"Bravery isn't afraid of anything, she's the only one of my emotions that willing wants to see all of the others, so those go to each of the others' realms." She counted the freestanding portals in her head. "There's only six. Think she knows why we're here?"

Beast Boy grinned. "Probably."

Bravery decided that this was a good time to make her entrance and dropped down, landing in a low crouch on the ground in front of them. Beast Boy had been startled, but Raven acted like it was routine for people to just fall out of the sky in front of her. The green robed emotion stood, smiling confidently at the changeling in front of her. "Hello, Beast Boy. Long time no see."

"Eh, heh…uh, hi." Beast Boy's mind was having an argument with itself. Part was glad to see this part of Raven that looked at him with so much confidence in herself, but the other part felt like he was being sized up before she would attack him. The two sides argued more about what an attack from her would be and whether or not it would be a good thing. "You got a nice…uh…place." Lame! How could he have thought that would be a good thing to say to her? It was like trying to get up the courage to talk to Raven all over again.

"It suits my needs. Wanna spar?"

She looked hopeful and hungry about the idea. It was a bit unnerving, so Beast Boy was glad when Raven stepped in.

"We didn't come to play. I need to talk to you, and I invited Beast Boy along because I wanted him to be here for it." Raven scolded herself over the warm feeling her face had when she talked about Beast Boy.

"Are you sure sparring wouldn't be better? It'd be a lot more exciting to watch than us talking."

"I'm sure. You know why I'm here?" Raven asked, sitting down on one of the stone benches that were the seating for the mini arena.

Bravery sat in the air, floating in a lotus position. "Something to do with us rejoining?"

Raven sighed and relaxed a little more. "Yes, I think you would agree that it shouldn't be difficult for us to rejoin. I listen to what you suggest more than most."

Bravery smiled like she had just won a contest of some sort. "To a point, that's true. However, wouldn't you agree that in certain areas, I'm almost as locked up as Anger is?"

"Like what?" A small feeling of alarm coming with the resistance her brave side was showing.

"With certain emotions, you block my work completely. You rarely listen to me when I'm assisting Affection or Happy. It's mainly with Timid and Anger that you and I almost rejoin. Are you sure you're ready for the full package?"

Bravery had asked this last part with such a satisfied smirk that Raven was starting to wish she had accepted the sparring invitation since it would have meant she could soften up this smug self-image a little. "I can handle it just fine. Or, are you just stalling because you think you can't keep up with Intelligence's pace?" This time Raven was giving off her own little smirk in triumph. She knew the overconfident emotion never liked being shown up, let alone being told she was hiding from it being noticed.

"I can handle whatever you throw at me. You're the one holding me back. I don't think you're ready for me. I mean, you want me to believe that you are, but you're always heading off to meditate when the better thing would be to face whatever it was that upset your balance. It's harder, but in the end when something is hard to do it builds the most strength."

"Since when did action girl go sage?" Raven said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Unlike you, I'm not afraid of any of the others. But, they won't do what I want to do unless I do what they want to do and most of them want to talk. Wisdom was one of the better fighters since she learned from our previous fights, but you gotta pay the piper…she'd talk for hours with me if I let her. Anger's the only one who'll just spar with me, but she always gets out of hand if she starts to lose. I may be immortal in here, but I still don't like being beat up." She grimaced a little, but swept it aside with a stoic look of determination.

A stunned Raven asked, "She beats you up?"

With a confident grin blazing, Bravery replied, "Only some times. She just keeps escalating the fight till it's a full out brawl. Sometimes she wins, sometimes I win. A real battle is good for you every once in a while."

"I guess…so, will you let me try to fuse with you?"

"Why should I? You're still afraid to face anything coming from Affection or Happy. What Kind of bravery is that?"

"Bravery's not about not being afraid, it's about doing what you need to even though you're scared." Beast Boy's eyes widened when he realized he'd just kind of butted in, but it was too late for him to take it back. He just covered his mouth looking back and forth between the two Ravens.

Bravery smiled approvingly at Beast Boy. "That's right, but it's Raven here who needs to figure that out."

"Haven't I been doing that? I went on the date even though I was terrified. I've asked him the things that I was scared to know the answers to. I even kissed him. I don't know why it scares me so much, I just know I like him…a lot, and I don't want to be afraid of him. I need you with me if I want to be able to face all of this until it stops scaring me." She kept her eyes locked on Bravery; too nervous about what Beast Boy would be thinking about all of this and about how he would be looking at her. She was happy that she had only blushed a little when she had talked about having kissed him.

"That's what I was looking for." She smiled at Raven. "We can begin whenever you want, I'm ready."

Raven stared for a bit but then started to close her eyes and concentrate. She stopped after only a second or two. "Beast Boy?"

"Uh, yeah, Rae?"

"I don't know what this will do to me, taking in two emotions in the same day. Remember that I really do like you a lot, and that I do want to go on our next date…it just might take a few days before I act like it again."

He could hear the worry in her voice. "I already told you I was going to be stubborn about this whole thing. Don't worry, I'll still be here when you're yourself again."

She smiled gratefully. "Good." This time, when she closed her eyes in concentration she didn't stop. The familiar feelings of lifting into the air, the windless wind, and the feeling of someone circling at high speed came and then the flash of light that she could see even through her closed eyelids. "What color am I now?" She asked, keeping her eyes shut as she drifted back to the floor. She liked it when he told her instead of just looking down; it like a little adventure to hear him say it before she looked for herself.

"Is pea soup a color? 'Cause that's what it looks like."

"Pea soup a color? I don't think so, but it's an acceptable description." She said looking down at her leotard. "It looks like a dark olive green."

"OK, so, what do we do now?"

"We leave, of course. The next fusion may take a few days."

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A few days had passed and Raven was getting annoyed by how unreasonable Timid was being. Every time she had gone through her mirror to talk to the quivering manifestation, Timid had said as little as possible and didn't seem to be even slightly ready for rejoining. Every time she started talking, Timid would only say that Raven wasn't ready…and for Raven not to be mad at her for saying so.

Having given up trying to persuade the grey one, Raven was using a nearby tree as an attack dummy to use up some of the energy she had that seemed to always be present. It was during a punch that managed to knock some bark off of the trunk, she had used her powers to shield her hands and feet from the blows, that Beast Boy had called to her.

"Rae! Come here, quick!"

She was still breathing heavy when she saw that Beast Boy was holding his communicator. "What is it? And why do you have that? We still have plenty of food." At least he looks happy about whatever it is, she thought.

Beast Boy was grinning madly as he turned the communicator so that it faced Raven. "It's the guys, they called to see how we're doing."

"Beast Boy insisted on getting you before he would tell us anything." Robin's calm voice came through while he, Starfire, and Cyborg jockeyed for position on the screen.

"Aw, man! You guys look great! What's goin' down y'all?" Cyborg was easily pushing the others out of the way so that he could speak to his friends who had temporarily become islanders.

Raven smiled at the actions of her friends. She didn't realize how much she missed them until now, seeing them in the tower's common room. "Nothing much, Cyborg. Just getting in some fighting training…I don't know what Beast Boy was doing when you called."

"I was reading about…"

"You were reading?" Cyborg seemed suddenly giddy. "You been reading the whole time?"

Beast Boy eyed him suspiciously. "Every day, like I said I would…why?"

His question was answered in a different way as Cyborg held a hand out to Robin who grudgingly slapped some money into the tin Titan's hand. He held it up so that Beast Boy and Raven could see it was a twenty. "I told Rob that you would stick to what you promised, he didn't quite believe me. Good thing he doesn't know you always keep your promises."

Beast Boy grinned at this. "Now Robin will know why I don't ever promise to clean my room." Cyborg's laughter allowed him to be caught off guard as Starfire forced him out of the way.

"It is glorious to see you, friends! I am most pleased that friend Robin allowed us this privilege!" She looked close to tears or close to a full bout of mania…Raven was reserving judgment till she saw a little more.

"Hey, Starfire. How's it been being the only girl?" Raven knew that this was the main thing Starfire would want to talk about. She had seemed so upset at being the lone female. Plus, she missed the red head and wanted to hear her voice for a bit.

Starfire's smile dipped a little, but came back quickly. "I have been managing. The boys have been accommodating to me, but it is not a very good substitute for having another female. I am still greatly looking forward to when you will be rejoining us here at the tower!" She still had her smile, but Raven was sure one of the tears that had been in her eyes had escaped as she had quickly left the camera's view. Robin stepped into the vacant spot.

"Hey guys, it's good to see you again. I put in this call so we could all talk to you a bit, but I also wanted to find out your progress. You know, get an update on things."

Beast Boy's smile exploded along with the words that flowed out of his mouth. "Dude! It's so cool! I can control the Cullen totally now!"

"The Cullen?" Robin's stare had gone blank. It had been an impressive feat for him to have a stare that wasn't blank with his mask on, and now it was gone.

Raven answered his curiosity. "Cullen is the name we gave to the creature that he changed into. I got tired of calling it the beast. Seemed kind of silly."

Robin allowed half of his smile to show. "I guess that makes sense, but it doesn't really need a name. It's Beast Boy, just another version of him. How's your training been going?"

Raven frowned slightly. "I'm a little less than halfway there."

"Almost halfway, not bad. Beast Boy, did you want us to come pick you up and somebody else stay with Raven, so you can get off the island? Since…well, you're done so quick."

Raven's frown had deepened at Robin's words, which had not gone unnoticed by the changeling. "Naw, I need to stay and work on some of the other stuff you gave me still. I still have stuff I haven't even tried yet, and I'm not as fast at changing as I think I can get."

Robin's face went almost neutral. "Oh, OK. Just, when you want to come back, just let us know."

"OK, how are Hot Spot and Wildebeest doing? They gonna be good Titans for that Titan's North thing?"

Robin smiled a little tiredly. "They'll be fine for it, I just hope they don't fight as much there as they do here. They argue about almost everything…except for movies, which is really weird. They like documentaries and Adam Sandler type stuff."

Beast Boy had a good chuckle at this. "That is weird. Anything else you need from us?"

"Nah, just keep up the good work. Hmm…but, since you're done with your main task Beast Boy, why don't you add some combat training into the mix? Maybe you can get as good a leg up in that as you have with everything else. And Raven, keep working hard. I know it's not easy, but you're making progress. Progress means you'll get there eventually."

"Thanks, Robin." The sarcasm going unnoticed by the two boys. "Tell Star we'll be home soon enough, and tell Cyborg I was glad to see him too."

"Ditto that for me, dude." Beast Boy said ecstatically to Robin.

"Will do. Hope to see you guys back at the tower soon. Later." And with his last words still fresh, the image faded from the communicator.

"That was cool that they gave us a buzz like that. I didn't realize how much I missed them."

Raven tried to let go of how she was feeling towards Robin right then, but it wasn't quite working. She at least managed to not let Beast Boy see. "Yeah…I'm…going to go back to talk to Timid some more. You coming?" He was still smiling from the talk with the rest of the Titans…didn't he realize how disappointed Robin had seemed about Beast Boy being done and her not having even gotten halfway yet? It felt like he was trying to console her about the slow pace she was on.

"I'd love to."

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"Come on, she's around here somewhere. She's too scared to go anywhere else without somebody going with her." Raven and Beast Boy had been searching the maze for ten minutes already with Raven calling out for the shrinking violet in grey. "Ugh, why can't she just say where she is?" Raven's frustration was leaking out, though nothing had been covered in a black aura without Raven wanting it to happen for quite a number of days now.

Beast Boy felt intimidated by Raven's slowly worsening temper. "Why're you getting so worked up about it? It's not like she can escape your head." He laughed a little and hoped that Raven would lighten up with his joke too.

"Not now, Beast Boy. I just want to get this over with. She's been practically running from me every time she's seen me. I keep having to corner her just so she'll talk to me."

"Why's she running away?"

"She's Timid, the part of me that gets scared and feels sorry and panics. It's just what she does."

"So…" Beast Boy was seeking to understand a little better. "If she's the part of you that's afraid, why're we stalking her through a maze, trying to corner her?"

Raven stopped and rolled her eyes letting them carry her gaze to the sky. "Beast Boy?"

"Uh, yeah?" This felt exactly like when he had interrupted her meditation before they'd come to the island. That had never been a good thing to do.

"Just shut up for a while, OK?" She started massaging the bridge of her nose. "The last thing I need right now is you acting like Robin."

"What'd Robin do? He just wanted to say hi and see how far along we were."

Raven laughed emptily. "Yeah, and he was so pleased with how far along I am that he spent the rest of the time talking to you and patting you on the back about you being done with everything."

Beast Boy didn't like what she was suggesting. "Hey, he was glad with what you've done, he was just giving you a little pep talk for the rest of what you have to do."

She folded her arms in front of her. "Great pep talk. Raven, you're not as far along as we thought you should be, but don't worry, you'll make it. That's a real comforting talk. Makes me want to just get going as fast as I can."

"He didn't say that!"

She suddenly looked very upset. "Well he should have! It would have been a lot easier if he had just come out and said what he was insinuating by all that junk! 'Progress means you'll get there eventually.' How condescending! He saw that you had already finished and when he saw that I wasn't even close yet, he passed judgment."

"It's not like he expected you to be done already. He wasn't comparing us."

"Are you sure? It sure felt like that to me. And why shouldn't he? Why shouldn't I have been further along? I'll tell you why, because you only had one piece to put back into place and I had NINE! I'm doing fine! And, I will be done VERY soon, so just tell bird boy to lay off me next time he decides to give us a little ring!" She was breathing hard from all the yelling she had just done, but she didn't bother to try and hide it. She could do anything Beast Boy could. Robin would feel stupid once she was calling him next week for them to be picked up. Raven would have kept berating their leader if she hadn't spotted Timid peeking out from around a corner at them looking very worried. "Timid! Stay where you are!" Raven bolted after Timid and had her by the arm before the grey doppelganger could finish her retreat. "Come on, you and I are rejoining, whether you're too scared to or not. Beast Boy, can you hold on to her for a second so that she can't get away while I'm concentrating?" She looked expectantly at him.

"No."

"Wha…why not?" Didn't he understand she needed to finish this merger so that they could be that much closer to going home?

"You're not acting like yourself. You're trying to do stuff just because you think you have to prove something. Bravery and Intelligence coming in at the same time have messed with you. I'm not gonna help you force Timid if she's not ready." He kept his face stony even though Timid smiled weakly at him, her arm still in Raven's grip.

"WHAT? Fine, you won't help me become whole, that's just fine. I'll do it without you." She encased Timid in one of her force field spheres. Timid looked close to tears and just hugged her own knees as she rocked back and forth in the bottom of the floating ball.

"I'm not gonna watch this." He turned to head around the nearest corner, but before he finished heading out of sight he turned back around. "Raven, in a few days this…well, whatever it is, is going to finish wearing off. I feel sorry for how much you'll regret this when that happens." Having said his piece, he finished rounding the corner. He didn't go far, just far enough that he wouldn't be able to see. He wanted to be able to hear it so that he would know when it was over.

Having watched him walk off and after hearing Timid whimper for him, Raven started to doubt what she was doing. But, she remembered what Robin had said and the way he had acted, and the determination returned. She lowered her head, concentrating hard on the fusion. Everything was happening the same as it always seemed to, and then it was over. The bright flash of light had brought Beast Boy back from around the corner, and with him came a very sad look in his eyes. She looked down at her now faded green/grey cloak and smiled in a very self-satisfied way.

Beast Boy thought she looked smug about the whole thing. He was just about to make some crack when another flash of light caused him to shield his eyes and turn away. When he looked back Raven was on the ground, looking sore with a very teary eyed Timid slinking away from her towards him.

"Thank you for trying to help her. I'm sorry she treated you like that." She had said everything in little over a whisper, so Beast Boy had had to lean in to catch everything. "And I have a message I have to pass on to you. I promised, so I have to."

She was blushing the most crimson red color Beast Boy had seen anyone ever blush in his life. She leaned in to him and quickly gave him a small kiss. He felt his own cheeks flare up and laughed nervously. Timid had smiled shyly at him when she heard Raven stir behind her. Turning a worried face back towards Beast Boy she gave him one last small smile and was quickly around the corner.

Beast Boy walked over to Raven and helped her to her feet. She looked disoriented and she was staring around her as if she was trying to figure out where she was. "Beast Boy? What just happened? One minute, I'm checking out what color my outfit was and the next I'm waking up on the floor."

His eyes held a sadness he couldn't hide from her. As she caught hold of what his eyes were saying her own sadness came onto her face. "You tried to fuse with Timid and it didn't last because you were forcing it instead of listening to her. The bond broke pretty quickly. She already ran away." He wanted to hold her, he was almost sure she would need it, but he wasn't sure if the emotion-boosted ego would let him, so he waited.

"Oh." Stupid! How could she keep herself in control if she couldn't even keep the little she had right then from tipping the scales? She wanted to give up. She wanted for Beast Boy to hold her and tell her everything was all right, but she had been mean to him. She'd yelled at him. She'd even been upset that he had done so much while it felt like she wasn't getting anywhere. Robin had only made her actually say something about it. "I'm…sorry. I think I should just stop for today." She felt so tired; having the merger crumble like that had sapped her pretty badly.

He watched all the forcefulness that she had been over dosing on lately drain from her, her shoulders drooping forward. It looked safe, but it was always hard to tell what was safe with Raven. Beast Boy decided to risk it and walked forward and gripped her tightly in his arms. "It's OK, we can stop. You're just still coming down from the last two. You'll be able to join back with Timid in no time. You'll see. Besides, what good is being brave if you're not afraid of anything? Come on, let's go back to camp."

"'K." She had gotten what she wanted, and it did make her feel better, he seemed to have a knack for it, but she still felt bad about everything. "I really am sorry, I was just feeling like I was being told I was falling behind, like I wasn't measuring up. I don't like that feeling."

"Don't worry about it. We already talked about this, you already fired a preemptive strike." This time, she did smile a little at his joke, and they walked out of the maze, Raven keeping his arm around her like a security blanket.

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(A/N) You know, it takes me roughly two hours to write one of these chapters, the main reason I don't have more than one written in a day is because of all the distractions I allow for. In the end, the writing is spread out over the free spots I have during a day, and I end up goofing off so that it's more like six to twelve hours with a whole lot of over things mixed in to get a chapter out. I also always reread it before I put it up to make any last minute changes and to catch some of the mistakes that the spelling and grammar checker might have missed. Keeps me busy, that's for sure.


	17. Pale Sea Green

(A/N) At this point, I can see about how many chapters are left to write for the story. It looks like it'll be about nine more. I want to get one thing off my chest though. I really don't like peas. They're just mushy and nasty. It makes me understand why little kids spit out baby food. Just sick…unless they're snow peas in the pod or split pea soup, which isn't really peas anyway.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Pale Sea Green – What is the worth of fears, and what kind of peace can they bring?

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The next day Raven was still sulking about everything. About how she had acted, about what Robin had said, and about her still feeling like she hadn't really done much yet. It was draining, and she wanted to find a way to let go of these feelings that were bugging her. "Hey, Beast Boy…you want to go for a walk or something?" She had been reading one of the novels that Robin had sent with her, she was sure that Starfire had picked this one out since it was a light romance. "I just want to take a break from everything for a little bit."

Looking up from his own book on mythological creatures it took him a second to process what she had asked, he was still thinking about satyrs. "Huh? Uh…a walk? Sure, that sounds fun." He stood and stretched his arms out over his head. "Where did you want to go?"

"How about the beach? We haven't explored out that way yet."

Beast Boy's mind raced a little…he had always thought of walking on the beach with a girl as romantic. Was that what she was planning, or was he jumping to conclusions? "The beach sounds good." An argument broke out in his head about whether or not he should help this be a romantic trip as he and Raven started heading across the clearing in the direction that Beast Boy had said the ocean was when they had first arrived to the deserted island. He kept having to stop himself from reaching out for her hand as they went.

Raven was enjoying her break already. It was cool in the cover of the trees as they walked and Beast Boy was always taking little looks at her whenever he thought she wasn't looking. She liked it, it made her feel like he thought of her as something so special that it wasn't OK for him to even look at her. She was still enjoying the little high that this feeling had brought when she tripped on a root sticking out from a tree they were passing. Beast Boy caught her before she fell, but she was mentally cursing herself for not having been just gliding along a little off the ground like she normally did.

Now that he had a hold of her hand, Beast Boy couldn't get himself to let go. She didn't seem to mind, she still looked mad about having tripped, but he decided that it felt too nice for him to stop. They had been walking for almost half an hour when they finally broke through the cover of the trees and found themselves at the edge of a sandy beach.

They just stared out at the water watching the small waves running up the sand a few feet and then retreating again. The water was a clear crystal blue and they could make out a small bit of coral deep under the sea's surface. It reminded Raven of the way people talked about tropical islands and the clean ocean water that those islands had. She smiled a little when she realized that this probably was some tropical island too.

Beast Boy started making his way down the beach toward the water with Raven in tow. When he pulled up at the edge of the liquid glass that stood before them he let go of her hand, took off his shoes and socks, and took a few steps out. It wasn't cold at all, but it did feel good in contrast with the warm sun that shone down on them. He turned around and looked at the girl who was watching him while a smile played across her lips. "You wanna go for a swim?"

"And why would I want to do that?" He looked even more like a little kid with a new toy than usual; it made his idea seem inviting.

"'Cause it's hot and you're wearing a heavy cloak and you wanted to take a break. A nice swim would be a good break, don't you think?" He really was hoping she would say yes. He didn't even know if she could swim, but he could help with that if that's all it was.

She smiled at his eyes that just seemed to be pleading for her to join him. "Well, alright, but I need to put this back up by the trees." She said, indicating the now pink robe. She levitated over the sand and unclasped her cloak, hanging it on a low branch of a nearby branch. When she got back to the water's edge Beast Boy was already waist deep and heading farther out. "Is it cold?"

"Nope! It's perfect, so hurry up!" He turned around to see if she had even gotten her feet wet yet and his breath caught in his throat. He had never seen Raven in just her leotard before. It never occurred to him that it was pretty much a bathing suit by design, and she looked beautiful in it to him. Her pale, milky skin catching the reflection of the sun off the water made it look like the moon had decided to come down for a visit as a woman.

She saw him watching her and she noticed he didn't seem to be blinking either. Again she found she liked the way he was looking at her. "Do you like what you see?" She smiled coyly at him; trying to see if he would have one of his little panic attacks.

He did. To hide his embarrassment, Beast Boy quickly turned around, but betrayed himself by saying, "Sorry."

She let out a little laugh, which caused the green teen to turn back around to look at her. "It's OK, Beast Boy. I never said that I mind." She waded out next to him, finding the water to be perfect like he had said. "This really was a good idea. I haven't been swimming since I before I became a Titan."

"You learned to swim when you were a kid?" Curiosity allowing him to ignore how forward she was being.

She smiled at him. "I never learned how to swim, I learned how to fly while being in the water…so, it's kind of cheating."

Beast Boy laughed at the thought of flying through water. "I never thought about that, but it makes sense. I'd do it if I could. I learned to swim by watching everything else that swims. Aqualad's the only human, er, human looking thing that I've ever seen swim as quick as fish and sharks and whales can. I think it's something built in. It's probably why he's so thin and long."

Raven was laughing again. "Look what Robin's done to you. Beast Boy the intellectual."

"Intellectual? I can live with that…but…" He started to add, a mischievous grin coming to his face. "I still get to be silly when I want, so…" He quickly changed himself into seal and splashed Raven with his tail. Changing back he just leaned into the water and floated a little as he laughed.

A now thoroughly drenched Raven pulled the soaked hair from her face, smiling at the challenge of returning the favor. "Beast Boy…you should look up." She had made another of her energy spheres and it was a few feet directly over his head.

He laughed a little more and looked up but only saw the energy disappear and in its place a large ball of water that suddenly lost its fight against gravity. It hit him full in the face. After the deluge Beast Boy spit some water out of his mouth and started laughing again. "Alright, alright, I give. You're the queen of splashing."

"Good." She said smirking softly.

They spent the rest of the late morning swimming around and looking at various fish that were brave enough to come close to them. Beast Boy helped lead a few to where Raven was by changing into various things, herding them in. They finally got out and headed back up by Raven's cloak. She laid it out so that they could use it like a blanket and sit in the sun for a bit to dry off.

"Rae, how come you don't tan? I mean…we've been out here for a while and I've gotten kind of greener, but you're still that soft color." He had been lying on his stomach to dry off his back when the question had come upon him.

Her eyes still closed to the sun she was facing, she answered, "I'm part demon, they don't really get affected by heat very easily. It's also why I don't get hurt in fights, despite how small and fragile I may look."

"Do you ever wish you were…normal? I'm only asking 'cause it's something that I wish sometimes. Being green ain't all it's cracked up to be." She looked so peaceful; he hoped that his small talk wouldn't take that from her.

She sat up, crossing her legs like she would in meditation. "I guess so, but I don't know what normal feels like. I've never been normal like you were." She scooted a little closer to him. "But if you were normal, none of this would have happened…or at least, it wouldn't have happened between the two of us. I don't think I would have liked that."

Beast Boy got himself up and sat with his legs sprawled out in front of him. He was facing the opposite direction as Raven, so they were mostly still facing each other. "I don't think I would either. It's been like finding the missing half of yourself."

Raven enjoyed when he started talking with his heart. His words weren't any more thought out, but the emotion he put behind them was always so earnest and loving that she couldn't help but feel pulled in by them. She leaned forward into a crawling position and slowly closed in on him. She smiled, watching him tense up before their lips met. She closed her eyes and kissed him deeply. She wanted him to feel as wonderful as he always seemed to make her feel, and she used the most powerful way she knew.

Even though he was really enjoying the kiss, a nagging thought kept trying to poke up from the back of his mind. Feeling Raven pull herself into his lap so that she could kiss him again and again both made the thought try harder to be heard and kept the thought pushed down. However, when her hands started to roam and his had the same urge the thought won out. "Raven…" She kissed him again. "Raven, wait…stop." She had started kissing his neck. "Raven, we need to stop right now."

Stopping seemed like a bad idea, why fight this when it felt so good? "Why?" She only stopped her conquest of his throat long enough to say the one word.

"Because I promised not to take advantage of you." His resolve was finally winning out against his hormones and Beast Boy found he could resist the feelings that Raven had been stirring up.

She lifted her head to look him in the eye and smiled. "I don't think you're taking advantage of me, especially when it's what I want too."

Beast Boy's hormones had almost gotten their second wind from what Raven had said, but he had too firm a grasp on what mattered more to him. "You think you do, but you wouldn't really be doing this if you had Timid with you to balance Bravery."

Raven got out of Beast Boy's lap and glared at him a little. "Well, what if you're wrong and all you're doing is pushing me away?" Couldn't he just drop the Robin tendency for now? She wanted to spend time with Beast Boy, not the boy wonder.

"I don't think I'm wrong, and I don't want to do something that either of us might regret. I don't want to do something that, after you're whole, will make you think less of me for having done. Plus, you made me promise I wouldn't." Let her just be a little mad…a little mad is a lot better than fuming, fuming sucks, he thought as he waited for her to reply.

"Something either of us might regret? Isn't that a bit clichéd?" Raven watched to see if his face would show even the slightest sign of him not being totally firm in what he had said. Seeing that he was completely solid in his stance she scowled in defeat. She had made him promise, which right now felt like a stupid thing to do. What was so wrong with showing him how she felt? "Fine. Get off my cloak so we can go back to camp."

Beast Boy obeyed and was quickly off. He watched her grumpily shake her signature garment free from sand and set it back in place. "You want some lunch? I could make up something for us."

"Sure. I think I'm going back into Nevermore after though. I don't care how long it takes, I'm staying in there until Timid tells me what I need to do." She felt gritty, not all of the sand was out of her robe.

Beast Boy hid his smile, not wanting to worsen her mood. And, telling her that bold determination and a confrontational mindset were probably not gonna help would be no less than suicide, so those stayed neatly tucked away too.

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"Timid, please…just talk to me!" Raven had realized that cornering a coward was a bad way to get them to open up and instead had just tried begging Timid. She had come out this time, but still seemed to be mute. It took Raven almost ten minutes just to get her fearful facsimile to sit down. "Please? I'm just tired of not understanding what I need to do, and you're the only one who can help me. I know I need you with me, but I don't understand why."

Beast Boy had just sat off to the side watching everything. He was glad that Raven wasn't so mad at him that she didn't bring him, but he wasn't going to push his luck, so he stayed quiet.

"You're too free." It had been the first time Timid had said something since meeting Raven and Beast Boy at the edge of her maze that she liked to hide in.

Raven looked at Timid, to see if she was going to say anything else. When nothing else came, she thought about what had been said. "What do you mean? How can you be too free?"

Timid tried to see if there was even the slightest hint of anger in those words. Seeing it was safe, she answered, "You need boundaries to keep you safe."

"Safe from what?"

Timid's eyes widened. "From everything!"

"How about I give a situation, and you tell me what these boundaries would protect me from, can you do that?" Timid nodded. "OK, uhm, do you know what Beast Boy and I were doing after we went swimming?" Timid hid her face because of the blush she suddenly had. "I'll take that as a yes." She said, a smile creeping into her eyes. "What would those boundaries save me from with something like that?" Like showing your affection for someone needs boundaries, she thought as Timid stared at the ground.

Still not looking up, she answered quietly. "If you did…too much…you could really regret it." She saw Raven smile and roll her eyes. "You could've used Beast Boy just so you felt good." Raven's smile didn't seem big to her now. "You could get pregnant. There's no…protection…here." The smile was gone and Raven's eyes were looking more worried. "It could hurt and you could think it was all Beast Boy's fault. You could like it, but Beast Boy might not, and then he could leave you. You could get in trouble because of your ages. You could lose control of your powers because you're not whole yet. You could…"

"I think that'll be enough." Raven was looking at the nearby wall of the maze, staring at it as though it had some comforting words written on it. "I can see what you mean. Some of those things are just silly fears, but there were too many that are too…honest to be pushed aside." She smiled weakly. "I think I'm ready. I need those boundaries so that I don't do something stupid or hurtful. I'm kind of nervous though, this didn't work last time."

Timid tried smiling, but didn't quite make it. She had never been good at helping to remove that which she gave. "I don't know if it'll work either, but I hope it will. I'll do my best, but I'm sorry if it doesn't happen." She stood, but she still had her apprehensions. "Can I close my eyes?"

Raven smiled, and something about wanting to help Timid fight her nervousness pushed her own unsteady feelings aside. "Yes, you can close your eyes. And don't worry; it'll work this time. Ready?" Timid gave a meek nod as she tightly shut her eyes. Raven closed hers too and bowed her head. She locked her mind onto what she wanted to do and focused. Timid only whimpered a little as they lifted into the air and again when she started to circle Raven.

Beast Boy closed his eyes before the flash hit and opened them to Raven lightly landing on her feet. She was back to the green/grey color he had seen her in the last time she tried merging with Timid, but this time she looked strange, and after standing in place for a moment her eyes teared up.

"I don't think it's going to stay. She was too scared of me. It's just going to fall apart again."

He quickly walked over to her and pulled her into a warm hug. "Don't worry. If it does come apart again we'll just have another talk with Timid and find out what went wrong."

"She won't want to talk to me. She'll be too scared and she'll run away." She couldn't stop herself from shivering.

It was a bit unsettling to watch Raven have a nervous breakdown like this, so Beast Boy just kept holding her, telling her everything would be fine. The small scared girl in his arms just clutched onto him as though he was keeping her from drowning. They moved into a sitting position on the ground. He held Raven in his lap and rocked her gently back and forth, hoping that it would calm her distress.

He had been holding her for a while, and she was finally calm, but every time he suggested that they get heading back Raven gripped him tightly and pleaded for him to not let her go. He was still rocking her gently, hoping that she would fall asleep so that he could at least start carrying her towards the forbidden door when he felt that someone was watching them. He turned his head to look behind where he was sitting as much as he could with Raven still holding on for dear life and caught a glimpse of a blue cloak.

"Greetings. She has rejoined with Timid. That is good." Serenity spoke calmly.

After a waiting for a few minutes Raven finally opened her eyes again to look at the intruder and relaxed a little at the sight of her. "How come you're here?"

Serenity smiled reassuringly. "I often come to Timid to give her peace. She and I enjoy each other's company. She likes to not feel so afraid, and I like to provide that. It is my purpose."

Raven pulled a little farther back from Beast Boy to face the calm emotion more fully. "But since she's gone now, how come you're still here?"

"I stay because I think it would be acceptable if we rejoined now. It would be safe to say that I have more experience in this matter and am better equipped to judge the timing of it."

She leaned back into her security blanket by tightening her hold of Beast Boy. "Is that safe? Last time I joined with two in the same day I couldn't really handle what I was feeling and the feelings took over."

"It will be safe. You have more experience in this matter as well. I think it will only take a day, two at most, for you to be able to handle what rejoining me would cause. Plus, I am the balance emotion. I am your center. You would do well to have me back in place with all the emotions that you have already rejoined. Not to mention those that you will join after me. They are your most powerful, and you will need me most definitely then." Serenity felt no urgency, she just wanted to fulfill her purpose, and there was a need for her.

"I'm not sure."

Beast Boy squeezed her a little. "Come on, Rae. It'll be all right. She's the one who helped you the most before we beat Trigon. She'll be a big help now too. What do you have to worry about with her?"

"Apathy." She frowned as she said the word. "I know that I'm just being scared, but I don't want to act like everything's calm and at peace. You make me feel like I'm falling, and although it scares me, I can't stop wanting it to keep happening. I don't want that to go away."

Beast Boy rubbed her back as he spoke. "Don't worry. Even if that's exactly what happens, it'll only be for a small bit, then you'll be back to normal. You'll be OK, I promise." He pulled back some so that he could look into her eyes. "And I promise that I'll love you no matter what. I think this is a good idea because it'll help you to be happy."

"Alright, I'll try it…but will you do something for me?"

"Anything!"

She looked as much like Timid as she could without having the grey cloak. "Will you still hold me while it happens?"

Beast Boy was a little alarmed by the request. "Is that safe?"

Raven nodded her head. "When they shoot inward like they do they're not solid anymore. They're like sound, it'll just pass through you into me."

"Then I'll do it." He looked away for second. "How do I float up with you?"

Raven smiled shyly. "I'll just lift you up."

"OK, then…are you ready?"

She took a deep breath. "Yes…let's start before I can back out." She got out of Beast Boy's lap and they stood up together. Serenity had already been standing where she needed to be, patiently waiting for Raven to start. After they were all set, Raven's arms shot around Beast Boy's neck.

He placed his around her waist and caressed her back. It felt funny to him when Raven's powers seized the soles of his shoes and pushed him up into the air by them. He closed his eyes as Serenity became a gently smiling blue blur. When the moment for her to pull into Raven happened he gasped. As the emotion of tranquility had passed through him he had felt the greatest sensation of peace and contentment he had ever experienced, but just as quickly as it had come, it was gone. He was still trying to remember exactly how he had felt so intensely that he didn't notice they were back on the ground.

"Beast Boy…we're done. You can let go now."

His eyes finally taking in what was around them, and he looked to the woman who seemed to fit so nicely in his arms. He let her out of his embrace, but kept one of her hands in his. "How do you feel?"

"Relaxed. Should we go?"

"Sure."

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(A/N) More and more, it feels like I can't say everything I want to in a chapter in less than four thousand words. It's pretty strange for me, 'cause I just write till I've got what I planned on getting through during the chapter I'd been writing. It's just hitting at around the same number all the time and it's a bit weird since I just write out everything, reread it to make small changes if any, and then I'm done. I don't do rewrites or anything, so it just feels strange that the numbers are so similar. Anyway, reviews are appreciated…seriously, I even say thanks every few chapters and I always answer the questions I get as best as I can without giving away future story stuff.


	18. Stuck in the Middle

(A/N) Sorry about the delay in updating, I was at a friend's wedding reception. As a bribe to those of you who don't accept that I have a life on rare occasions, I offer you a crude map I made of the island. You can find it at http/windlane. if you want to take a look. Mike, a guy from my job says "Hi." He wanted me to put him in the fic, but he changed his mind when he found out the only way I could would be able to is to have Beast Boy name some animal he'd killed for Raven's diner, he changed his mind when he found out. Prince V, yes, I can let you know if your reviews are getting through. You can find out too by just checking out the reviews link that's at the start of the chapter you've reviewed for. BleachBurns, there's no swearing because they don't swear in the show and they don't swear in the comic. A rare thing, but that's the universe they're in. Plus…I have had them cursing themselves in their heads…though cursing yourself doesn't mean actual cursing. ;-) Star's-Fire, I have no plans for a sequel. It would have to involve the inventing of new villains so that the new and improved Teen Titans wouldn't have it so easy, and that doesn't appeal to me because it's not my show. I'm trying to keep things within what's already been shown. Yeah, I take liberties with what's there, you have to, but inventing new characters is something I shy away from because of the tendency to showcase the invention over the actual stars. Long answer, sorry. Elissar, nope, no villains know where they are. Plus, it's not likely that Robin isn't monitoring the island in some way when you take into account his busy body attitude and over bearing nature. And finally, to answer those who have been suggesting that a lemon would be likely or at least appropriate…you're not getting bupkis from me. I'm not putting one in not only because I don't write that kind of stuff, but also because I honestly don't think the characters would. I mean, the only reason Raven started her little make out session was because she was overpowered by a Crass centered need to have those good feelings while Bravery knocked all the worry out of her way. Expect cute love things, not heavy panting stuff. Though, there's nothing stopping any of you from writing it yourself. I'm only laying claim on the story, anything you add to it is yours. This was long.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Stuck in the Middle – A boy, a girl, a date, and an amusement park made out of animals.

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Beast Boy was feeling hyper. His second date with Raven was going to start as soon as she finished the chapter she was on in the book Starfire had picked out for her. He had been planning it for over a week, so he was sure that Raven would like everything…unless her recent joining with Timid put up a barrier against enjoying stuff. He already had a picnic lunch packed with a special treat he had spent a whole afternoon preparing. Giddy with anticipation he leaped to his feet as soon as he saw Raven close the book, his own reading having been forgotten as soon as concentration had become unlikely. "Ready?"

Raven smiled as she rose from her seat. "Sure." She had noticed Beast Boy's energy level rising from minute to minute as soon as she had agreed on when they would go on their second date. Since he had only asked yesterday after they had come back from Nevermore, Raven almost thought about asking for another day, but after a moment's thought found she didn't mind the short notice.

"It's not far and you don't have to worry about anything, I've got it all set up." He practically skipped the whole way there. "I hope you like this, it took me a while to figure out how to pull everything off."

"I'm sure I'll like it. I really enjoyed your last surprise." She could see the river through the trees now; it looked like they were somewhere downstream from where they had set up the sink and shower. But after reaching the water flow, Beast Boy changed course to follow the river downstream. When he finally stopped where a few large trees blocked the path they had been taking and hid the next bend of the river from view, Raven felt unusually calm.

"OK, now you have to close your eyes. I want you to see everything all at once." Beast Boy was having problems keeping anything even slightly close to a straight face. He wanted to laugh, but it wasn't time for that yet, so he just smiled and held in his giggles.

Raven shut her eyes and felt Beast Boy take her hand. He led her carefully around the cluster of trees and on for a small bit. She could still hear the river flowing gently to her right. Beast Boy eventually had her stop and sat her down on what seemed like a smooth rock. The sound of the water was very calm, almost as though it was slowing down.

"Alright, open your eyes."

She did as he asked and as they fluttered in adjusting to the light he let out a gleeful "Tada!" There was only one problem with everything. There wasn't anything to look at. The river bulged where they were, creating a pocket of nearly still water along the steady flow. There weren't any trees that stood out, and on the whole, it just seemed like any other part of the river they'd been to. "What am I looking at?"

Laughter poured out of Beast Boy, the buildup finally being too great to hold back any longer. As soon as he had caught his breath enough to speak he explained, "This is your amusement park for the afternoon. After lunch, you get to go on all the rides." Another burst of giggles coming out of his mouth as soon as he had finished speaking.

"What rides?" Raven wasn't sure if she was being laughed at because he was pulling a prank of some kind on her, or if she was being laughed at because she didn't see something that he thought was obvious.

A last little giggle came and he finally settled into a nice toothy smile, his fang featuring prominently. "I'll be providing all the rides. I wasn't laughing at you, just so you know. I was laughing because I can't show you any of the rides…" The giggles almost took over him again. "…'Cause I am the rides." Raven just seemed to wait for the rest of his explanation, so he decided to just tell her the full deal. "I'm going to change into different things that I'm gonna use to fake roller coasters and merry-go-rounds and stuff."

"Sounds…interesting. What about lunch?" She watched as Beast Boy ran off towards some close by bushes and pulled out a couple of boxes and lugged them to where she was sitting. "Why so much?"

"It's not just lunch." He was grinning so much his cheeks were hurting. "It's also the stuff you'll need for the rides."

Raven eyed the box that Beast Boy wasn't pulling things from. "What do I need for the rides?"

Beast Boy set the blanket he had in his hands down and looked up at Raven. "Something to sit on, some harnesses I made so you have something to hold onto, and some cotton candy."

"Oh, OK…" Raven did a double take with a half gainer. "Cotton candy? How did you make cotton candy?" This was too much. It should've been impossible with the things they had.

He smiled sheepishly. "It's not really cotton candy, just a kind of prop to help with the look of being at a carnival. I took the cotton out of one of my pillows and stained it pink with some berries." Reaching into the second box he produced his little creation. "It's to help you pretend you're really there."

She smiled lightly at his admirable forethought. "Weird, but a nice touch."

Beast Boy finished unloading their lunch, another type of meat dish made from the vegetables they were able to get and just normal fresh fruit for dessert. They had a nice time just chatting about the things that people miss when they're away from civilization. Raven missed the more private feeling a full bathroom gave and supermarkets while Beast Boy missed playing video games and listening to music. After the chatter and food Beast Boy got up with a renewed gleam in his eye about the coming festivities.

"You ready to go on some rides?"

Raven thought that the only way he could have looked more mischievous were if he was an imp. He definitely had the smile of one. "Sure…what's first?"

"Something light first, just the merry-go-round." After Helping Raven to her feet Beast Boy led her to the edge of the water. "You won't need the seat or any harness for this one. It's pretty tame and it's easy for me to watch out for you." As he turned to face the little inlet from the river he morphed himself into a giant squid. He slid himself into the water and kept seven of his tentacles submerged.

Raven watched in fascination as Beast Boy reached one of the tentacles to her and offered it to her so she could sit on it without any of the suckers touching. She sat down gingerly and found it somewhat spongy though strong. Since he couldn't tell her what was coming next everything was going to be a surprise.

He gently raised her into the air and used his submerged appendages to rotate himself raising and lowering Raven as she went in circles a few feet over the surface of the water. He used his other arms to keep his balance.

"This is nice." She called out to Beast Boy, hoping that squids had ears that could hear above the water. The whole sensation of flowing through the air without it being herself controlling it was exhilarating in the newness of it. She smiled and let her feet sway in the breeze the revolutions caused. After a minute or two more Beast Boy slowed down and placed her back on shore. He took a couple of quick spins in the opposite direction and slunk back out of the water. He had quickly changed back to himself and sat on the ground, keeping his eyes closed.

"What happened?" She asked, a little concerned.

Hearing her, but still enjoying what he was feeling he waited for a moment before answering. "I got dizzy doing that. Spinning in the other direction is supposed to help, but I didn't do it very much 'cause I like to be dizzy sometimes." He sat there, still not opening his eyes for a little bit longer before he got up. "Ready for something a little faster? I'll even let you pick, you get the roller coaster or the water ride. The water ride is always better early so that the other rides dry you off."

She let her imagination wander through possible ways he would pull off each ride. None of it helped her make a decision, so she decided to go with what he suggested. "Alright, let me try the water ride."

"This one needs one of the harnesses." He walked over to the box he had been in to get his fake cotton candy and pulled out what looked like a knot of ropes. "This is the grip, you need to hold on tight, and this is what'll help keep you strapped in. "You pull this here," he said indicating a loose end near a large set of loops, "after you get these ones around your waist. Put your feet in these two loops, they'll be like stirrups."

"Care to go through that one more time?" She wasn't convinced of how safe this would be. Beast Boy went through everything she would need to do again and after she had it down pat he moved back to the river's edge. He laid down with his head over the embankment with his harness hung around himself. "OK, I'm gonna change now. You should probably take off your cloak and shoes. Just pat my head when you're in." His form remodeled itself and the harness was soon snugly taught around the body of a dolphin that was partly over the water.

Raven quickly ditched her superfluous clothing and walked over to where Beast Boy was. She slid herself in, tightening all of the ropes like she had been shown. She took a deep breath and patted him on the head. He bucked a few times to finish getting into the water. Raven was quickly soaked up to her armpits with the entry into the river, but she didn't have long to stay shocked at the coolness of the water since Beast Boy took off like a shot causing Raven's grip on the rope handle to increase substantially. He kept himself as shallow in the water as he could and took several sharp turns and hard cuts. Picking up speed, he dipped deeper and suddenly sprang out of the water. Raven gasped as they cleared several feet of river with the jump. The feel of the water parting as her body was slid through it gave her an added sensation to the ride Beast Boy was giving her. He picked up speed again and did several jumps in a row, though each was less high than the last. Every time they came crashing into the water Raven had to tilt her head up as the flow tried to reach her face every time. For his finale Beast Boy got going faster than he had previously and submerged briefly, the water rose to Raven's neck. With a terrific jolt upward Beast Boy climbed into the air with a very wide eyed Raven in tow as he performed a flip and splashed back into the water. The reentry was too forceful and she was pulled under the water's surface for a moment.

Sputtering and coughing a little, Raven found herself near the same bank they had come in by. Since Beast Boy had come to so full and complete a stop, she assumed he was letting her get off of his back before he morphed. The ropes were a lot harder to remove since they had all gotten wet, but she was soon out and back on dry land. Beast Boy soon followed by doing a quick jump onto shore, shape shifting himself before he landed.

"Sorry about the finish there, I thought I jumped so that you wouldn't go under." She hadn't coughed for very long at all, but he still felt bad about having caused it.

"It's OK, just a little water down the wrong pipe…that was fun."

She didn't sound mad, but she didn't sound really wowed either. It was confusing for Beast Boy who was sure that he would get a good reaction, especially from the flip. Pressing on just the same, Beast Boy grabbed another harness from his box. This one was much larger than the last. "You ready for the scary rides now? There're two of 'em and then one more tame ride that I want to be last."

Raven looked at the mass of ropes with a determination in her eye that was accompanied by a small smile. "I think I can handle it. What's this next one going to be?"

"The roller coaster. I'll change, you'll strap yourself in like with the dolphin, and we're off." He shimmied himself into place and changed into the familiar form Raven had seen on so many of occasions, a pterodactyl.

Again, a slight feeling of trepidation came on Raven as she walked forward and then flew up to the seat. This one had a pillow tied in to cushion her against the bony back of the ancient creature. After securing herself, she gave the signal and Beast Boy leaped forcefully into the air. Raven was seated farther down his back than she would have picked, but it made sense so that she didn't throw off his ability to maneuver too much.

They climbed into the sky and that same feeling of flying while not being in control came, this time in much larger and stronger quantities. Raven shivered a little from the feeling of the wind cooling her still wet skin even with the warm sun beating down on them. After they had climbed to a height that Beast Boy felt comfortable with he started flying like he was trying to get her to fall off. He would spiral and dive and swoop up suddenly. Barrel rolls and loop-the-loops were his favorite moves, but he only heard the smallest of gasps from Raven when he flew straight up till gravity won out and dropped straight backwards towards the earth. He pulled out of the extreme dive at the very last moment and buzzed as close to the ground as he could, even skimming the water and tops of trees.

When he felt good and tired, Beast Boy ended his aerial acrobatics. He landed smoothly back by the river where they had eaten their lunch, confident that he had thoroughly spooked the somber girl like a proper roller coaster should. He was disappointed when he saw that she merely looked windswept.

"I've never been through anything like that. It was breathtaking."

She almost had the appearance of someone who had just looked up from a book. Feeling that his last scary ride would surely get the rise out of her that he was going for, he pulled out his last harness. It almost looked like a ship's cargo net. "For the last one you just climb on in and make yourself comfortable, but you have to help me set this one up. All you have to do is float us up a few hundred feet into the air and let go when I say so. OK?"

She smiled lightly. "Sure. Just tell me when." She climbed inside the netting; the pillow from the last harness had been moved into this one. Beast Boy was attaching the topmost portions to his legs; there was a good five feet between Raven's head and his shoes.

"OK, lift us up, but make it over the water."

As tempted as she had been the whole time to take a peek into his mind, she resisted. Even now, during the event she found the most confounding in her attempts to figure out what was going to happen next, she kept her promise and left herself in the dark. She let her powers encase them and raised everything a good three hundred feet above the river's swell. She would have gone higher, but Beast Boy stopped her.

"This is high enough, just let go, I'll take care of everything else." This last ride would entirely depend on her trust. Beast Boy really hoped that she did have enough trust in him that they could enjoy the experience. She let go and Beast Boy changed himself back into the pterodactyl, but only briefly. As soon as Raven was dangling from his feet he changed back into himself and let the both of them plummet towards the water, gaining more and more speed. "You have to look down!" Beast Boy yelled as the floor came for them at a fairly good clip.

Raven obeyed Beast Boy's instructions and her eyes teared with how quickly they were free falling. With less than fifty feet before they would hit, Raven started to ready her powers. Before she could do anything though, she felt her descent slow dramatically and watched as the ground started to back away again at an angle. She looked up and saw the pterodactyl Beast Boy steadily flapping, carrying them back to as high as they were and then higher. Again, he changed back into his usual self and they dropped again. Beast Boy repeated the process three more times, each time carrying them higher than the last. Raven was glad to notice that he would change into the prehistoric flyer sooner than previous times to take into account the speeds they were achieving.

After Raven had dismounted and Beast Boy had freed his ankles from the bindings he looked at her with a huge grin on his face. "What'd you think of that one?"

"It was excellent. I really enjoyed it."

Beast Boy practically fell forward onto his face from pure shock. "That's it? No 'it was scary' or 'I don't want to ever do that again'…nothing?"

Raven's eyes widened some in what looked like, to Beast Boy, mild surprise. "It was absolutely terrifying…but I'm OK with that."

"Wait…what?"

"I just rejoined with Timid and Serenity. Anything I've felt beyond them is pretty hard to pick up…they're kind of off the charts right now. Though, Serenity was right, I'm adjusting to her much faster than the others. That's why everything has been so scary to me. Timid has almost as much kick as Serenity right now, and because of that, part of me wants to sit down and just rock myself for a little while, except that Serenity's counteracting it with calmness…so I was petrified by the rides, but I'm able to cope just fine because of that calm. It's also why I know that part of me liked the rides…a lot. Serenity is so at peace, even when she's broadcasting at full blast that I can even feel the emotions I haven't fused with yet. It's weird…this is the first time I've been able to see the drastic change the rejoining brings. Serenity's just quiet enough for that to happen."

Beast Boy studied her for a few moments. "That was sure a whole lot to say for somebody who's afraid, but coping."

"I've already got Intelligence back with me, remember? She's back as a normal part of me, so she can cut through the ones I've just merged with somewhat." Raven looked Beast Boy up and down while he was thinking everything over. She was really hoping that he lived up to his word and that the last ride would be tame. She had almost screamed a few times from those last two.

"I think I understand. Do you still want to go on the last ride?" He figured that since she wasn't really showing her fear because of how calm she felt it would be a good idea to give her an out if she wanted it. He might have overdone it a bit, trying to get some kind of reaction.

Raven smiled slightly sleepily. "I'd rather go on the ride and finish our whole date. I don't want to back out when there's only one tame ride left. It really is tame, isn't it?"

Beast Boy's smile grew largely when he caught the nervousness in her words, even though it wasn't reflected in the tone of her voice. The thrill rides did have an effect. "Yes, it's very tame…kind of a lazy river ride. Come on, I'll show you." He led her back up the river till they came to that same tight grouping of trees. There, lying on the shore was a crude raft made of several layers of tree limbs and logs. It had lashed seats and was fenced in on all sides. Beast Boy helped Raven into the craft and changed into a gorilla to push it into the water. He quickly changed back and stepped in, sitting down across for the lavender haired girl.

He had a pole to push them away from the banks if they drifted towards one or the other. The current wasn't very quick, and the two just lazed in their seats for a while as they floated along. "Raven…I wanted to ask you something…something kind of important."

The sun was making her sleepy. The other rides really had dried her off nicely, so she had never bothered to put her cloak back on. "What did you want to ask?"

"Well…" he said, swallowing hard. "I've told you that I love you…I need to know…do you feel the same?"

Raven sat up more in her seat. She noticed that Beast Boy was looking at her eyes; he looked resolved about what he was asking. It was like he was ready to accept any answer she could give. "I…" She tried to focus, but found that her calm mood was fading. Worry, uncertainty, and a strong pang in her stomach kept invading he thoughts. "I don't know…I…like you, very much, but I don't know if it's love. This is very new for me. I don't think I'll know until I can merge with Affection so that I have a way of interpreting all of this."

"You make it sound like a foreign language."

Raven sighed sadly. "For me, emotions are. If it helps…I hope that it IS love. I don't want what's been happening between us to end. It's just that…I don't want to string you along just because it makes me feel good. I don't want to hurt you."

"Then maybe we should head back."

The afternoon had been such a good one. It was a shame that things had deteriorated like this. Raven never wanted to join with another emotion more than she wanted to be joined with Affection. She couldn't think of anything she had ever wanted more. This boy loved her, and she wanted to love him back, but she was broken and couldn't, at least, not just yet. "OK…let's go back.

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(A/N) It was a beautiful wedding reception. Fun too, they had a bounce house that the adults were allowed to go in. Quite a cool thing for a big kid like me. Incidentally, I highly recommend that idea for any large group event. I hope you all are enjoying this, if not...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I'm still gonna write the rest. I should be back to updating daily all the way up to the final chapter, no major events coming up that I can see to stop me. Please review, it makes me smile…of course, I smile MORE when there's money involved, but they don't have a paypal option for these things yet. I can dream though.


	19. The Confessional

(A/N) Hello. I was impressed by some of the things said in a few of the reviews. Good eye, OveractiveMind, it WAS going to be a tunnel of love type ride, which answers you too, SxStrngSamurai13, he gave up on the ride so quickly because of what Raven said…it was kind of a mood killer. McDowellandkid, that fusion is her next one, but that might be a chapter or two later. Ellisar, the link you left looks incomplete. I tried it, but nothing is found. Regrem Erutaerc, I can't answer your question, it gives away future happenings. ;-) BrianDarksoul, you do realize that by simply owning a Terra doll you're making the show's creators want to bring her back. Nothing like a little viewer angst to keep the ratings up. ;-)

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – The Confessional – Affection and Raven have a lot to talk about. Raven would rather not deal with it.

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The rest of the evening was heavily subdued. The two found themselves in an awkward silence too many times to count. Dinner had just been Raven looking at her food, pushing it around with her fork while Beast Boy slowly ate, staring at the fire. He looked defeated to Raven. She sighed, having given up on getting any kind of an appetite and walked off to clean her dishes.

The walk was quiet, which was good, since that meant she would be able to think things through without even the slightest distraction. "How do you know if you're really in love?" She paused for a moment. "Wasn't that the name of an article in one of Starfire's magazines? Ugh…what's wrong with me?" Being able to compare her thoughts to teen girl magazines aside, she still wanted to know. There were two times she had thought she truly loved someone. The first was her mother, but this was a different kind of love she was confused about. The other was with Malchior. How she felt about Beast Boy seemed to eclipse what she had felt then so much…why was it so hard for her to know if it really is love or not when she thought it was back then?

After Raven had finished with her dishes she found herself wandering, though not towards the campsite. Instead, the mouth of a cave stood before her. She peered into the inky blackness and tried to see or hear anything coming from within the rock's opening. She took a step inside and found it to be much cooler than the night air. Feeling her way along a wall she was quickly at the back of the cave where Beast Boy had placed her when he was in his more primal form. The entrance was still visible because of the moonlight and stars that gave the evening a pale glow outside.

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Raven had just sat there in the dark, trying to understand why she would enjoy being back there when the last time had shaken her up so badly. It must have been growing towards midnight when she heard noises outside. Straining to hear what kind of animal it was that had discovered the den, she inhaled sharply when she saw a large form fill the opening. It looked like it knew she was there because it lowered itself down and started to crawl towards her.

The creature looked tall, but it had been walking on two legs and now was low on all four. The faint outline showed a snout with triangular ears at the top of its head. "Beast Boy?" She was sure that it was him, but there was enough doubt that she wanted things to be certain. The thing's ears perked up at her voice and it started walking very calmly to her. As it reached her, its shape dissolved into the skinny teen she knew. "What are you doing here?"

He must not have heard her, because he continued towards her till he was inches apart from her. Raven was about to ask him what he was doing when he quickly pulled her into his arms and savagely kissed her. She felt her body melt at his touch and was soon returning the kiss just as fervently as he was. She let her hands rest on his back and the crook of his neck. A soft moan escaped her mouth as he moved from her lips to her neck. She felt that she needed this so desperately. "Don't stop."

"Why should I keep going? You don't love me."

Raven woke up to a still dark cave. She groaned in frustration at the dream and pulled herself up from the floor. She stepped out of the cave into the night air and flew quickly back to camp. After finally getting into her own room and into her own bed sleep avoided her. The dream was still bothering her, partly from how easily she had just let Beast Boy have his way and partly from how badly it had ended. It was confusing her that she was both upset by the dream and upset at waking up. Deciding it was pointless to fight for sleep that wasn't coming, Raven got out of bed and grabbed her mirror. If she wasn't going to get sleep, she was going to get answers.

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"I can't answer that for you." Affection stood erect, her eyes almost looking at Raven as though their relationship were the other way around.

Raven's eyes narrowed at the haughty emotion. "And why not? It's your job, so just tell me!"

Affection's lofty gaze eased somewhat into pity. "It is not that I am withholding the answer from you, merely that I am unable to answer what your feelings for him are. I can say what his feelings for you are and I can say that you could be in love, but only you can decide."

"I know enough to know that love isn't something I can just decide on."

"Very true, but it is for you to figure out. I am not you. I'm just the part of you that deals with the set of emotions that includes love, I don't create the emotion." The pity she had started to allow into her eyes spread to her whole demeanor. "The kind of love you are trying to see if you posses or not is not a simple emotion. If it is real, you will feel it with your whole being. Every part of you will feel that love, I will just be the part that acknowledges what you find and help you to express it."

Raven felt like she was collapsing in on herself. "How do I know if it's that kind of love?"

Affection smiled, though her eyes still held that piteous look. "It will take very little action, but much soul searching. With true love there are always two great and terrible dangers that you must go through. The first is the danger that you are wrong. There is no sure road through love, and attempting to love another and failing is an unavoidable risk, but you cannot know if you do not try. The second danger is that it may not be returned. True love means you live your life for the happiness of the one you love. If that is returned, both are made happy and find the greatest joys life can produce. But when true love is not returned, one is a slave to the other until they are able to break free of that love. These are the two great and terrible dangers of love. If you are not willing to face them, you will forever be in doubt."

Raven stared dumbfounded at Affection. "So basically, I risk hurting him and myself just by trying to find this out?"

"Yes."

"How do I know if I should even try?" Something just HAD to be definite with all of this. Some handle she could grab hold of that would give her safety.

Affection's smile grew full and a twinkle came to her eye. "By asking yourself questions that you have been either too proud or too embarrassed to ask." A devious smirk took the place of the smile. "Do you like Beast Boy's looks? His smile? His body? What things does he do that make you feel special or impressed? What does he do that you think is cute or manly or even funny? What do you like best about him? Worst? Do you like the way he kisses you? How about the way he looks at you? Can you picture yourself getting married to him?" She grinned more deeply as Raven squirmed. "Can you picture kids? I'll end with an easy one, how well do you think you know him?" Affection paused while Raven thought through her questions. "This is as much guidance as I can offer. It would also be a good idea to talk to him about these things…in fact; I would give him the answers. You'll have a good idea of whether or not you love him with him there in front of you."

The color, such as it was, slowly returned to Raven's face. "I need to answer all that, and you want me to do it all in front of him?"

A small smile and a nod answered Raven. "Love is a risk, it would be better to risk now while stakes are low than to wait when the pain would be worse if you were wrong."

Raven rubbed her forehead. "Why does this scare me more than facing some criminal?"

"Because you care about him and you're afraid of getting hurt, but you'll be in this stalemate until you choose to press forward."

"It's easy to see why teenagers are so screwed up about relationships."

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Raven waited a couple of days before she would put Affection's idea into action, mostly so that she could steel herself for the experience and also so she could get caught up on the sleep she lost talking to the lavender cloaked feeling. Beast Boy was still treating her nicely, but he wasn't trying to always hold her hand or stand or sit close to her like he had been doing. She closed her eyes to collect her thoughts and then levitated her chair near the changeling. The firelight allowed her to see his curiosity.

"I've been thinking a lot about things. I even talked for a long time with Affection about everything, and I'm still not sure what I feel for you, but I want to tell you everything that I can say I'm sure of." She pulled out the cards she had written Affection's questions on.

"Heeeeeeere's Raven!" A smirking Beast Boy drawled out.

A confused look came on to Raven's face for a moment until the memory of the scene Beast Boy had imagined the last time she had question cards popped into her mind. She smiled as the memory came to her and Beast Boy laughed a little. "I forgot about that." She turned more serious as she looked back at the cards. "These are questions that Affection said I should ask myself and that I should answer them in front of you. I haven't answered them yet, so you'll be hearing the answers at the same time as I think them up."

Beast Boy looked a little worried, but waited patiently all the same.

"The first one is, about what I think of your looks…your smile, and, uhm, your…body." Raven's blushing could only be matched by Beast Boy's. Neither could look at the other as Raven pressed on. "You look nice to me…gentle. You're kind of smaller than most people your age, but I like that we're just about the same height. You smile like I wish I could, with your whole soul. You're kind of handsome, but your fangs and ears make you…impish." She took a deep breath, still refusing to look up at him. "I like that…it makes you look like you are inside, kind of mischievous."

This was much harder than she had imagined it, and Raven had imagined it as being painful. The pain was of a different sort though, instead of an open wound, she found she was exposing her whole self. If he wanted to break her, he would only have to be mean while she was letting herself become this vulnerable. "Next is what you do that makes me feel special or impressed." She thought on it a moment. "You treat me like I'm breakable…like you're afraid I could be damaged. It's weird, but for being superhero, I like feeling cared for. I like that you put so much effort into what you do for our dates and for me. That's the same stuff that impresses me. You have this energy for learning that I never knew you had. I always thought of you as a slacker, but you just keep outdoing everything you've done. It also made me feel special to think that when you changed into that other you, that I was the only one you didn't attack, and that you even did things for me when you were like that."

She looked up briefly and saw Beast Boy staring intently at her. He caught her eye for the moment she wasn't keeping her eyes set on the ground and her cheeks pinked slightly again. "She asked what you did that I thought was cute…manly…or funny. I don't really know about cute, but sometimes your ears move around because of what you're feeling, and it makes me smile. I think the manliest thing you do is how you face your fears. You had me do that thing to you, and you came out of shock like it was nothing. Most people see horrible things that haunt them…things like gruesome torture and vicious murders. Horrific things that no one should have to see."

"I saw those things."

Raven's eyes widened. "What? Why didn't you tell me? You said that you only saw those three fears."

"Those were the only ones that scared me. I learned a long time ago that physical pain, no matter how bad it is, is temporary. The pain of losing those you love is a lot worse."

It was that exact strength of character that Raven felt men were supposed to have. "…Um…for what I find funny…I don't know. Every now and then you say something that's really funny, but a lot of the time I either don't get it or don't think it was all that funny. I hope you don't stop though, the funny times are worth it." Raven was getting tired of staring at the ground and looked at the fire instead.

Beast Boy couldn't hold back a chuckle. "Now you'll never get me to stop."

A quick smile at him and then back to her cards was all he got out of her. "I'm telling you what's best and worst about you now." She closed her eyes and visualized a typical day for the two of them. "I think your best quality is the amount of effort you put into whatever you're doing. I know that I didn't make it easy for you to include me in everything that the Titans did, but you always tried and never gave up. That's also pretty much what I like least. You never give up, even when I really just don't want to do the same thing. You push and push until I threaten you. I don't like being forced, even though sometimes it has good results."

As Raven turned to the next card her face felt very hot and her throat seized up. She coughed a little to unblock her airway and continued with what the card said. "Affection asked what I thought of you…kissing…me…" She felt like she was going to hyperventilate. "And what I thought of how you look at me." She was hoping Beast Boy would say something, anything just so she wouldn't have to really say anything about…that stuff. Instead, he remained quiet and waited. "I…like…when you kiss me. When you do, I feel like everything else is gone except you and me. It sounds corny, but that's what it's like. Uhm…when you look at me…" She took a quick peek at him. "Like you're doing now, I feel wanted…even desired. Usually, when people stare at me it feels creepy, like they're just ogling me or just trying to get a look at the dark goth girl from the Teen Titans. But when you look, I get nervous. Especially when I start to probe around me and feel what's behind your eyes while you look…it's overwhelming. You look at me like I'm beautiful and you can't help but stare."

"You are beautiful…I told you so on our first date…well, sort of, but that's what I was saying meant." Beast Boy felt like he was on fire. She was telling him everything she liked about him and he had to just sit there and listen. He wanted to grab her tightly and never let her go.

Raven was smiling, and even looking at him, but a glance at the next thing she was supposed to admit quickly pulled her eyes off of his. "This next one is…a LOT more embarrassing. She wanted me to say if I could picture us married…with kids." Raven was sure she could feel the warmth from his face from where she was sitting. It had to be warmer than the campfire. "I, uhm, don't think it's very difficult to imagine…marriage, because of how we've been living out here. We'd just have the same…room." The only thing that kept her going through everything was the faith she put in Affection's promise that doing this would probably answer her desire to know if she loved the green man. "About kids…I…never thought I would live to be able to…because of my father. I don't know about…it would be weird to think of myself as becoming a mother."

Beast Boy reached out his hand and clasped hers. "I think you'd be a good mother. You're just the kind of person who knows how to be that protective and caring. You may not show those things very much on your face, but you still do those things for the whole team. It's just part of who you are."

"Thank you." It was all she could think to say…the flood of emotions hitting her was almost more than she could take. "The last thing she said I should go through is how well I know you…and, the more I know you, the less I feel I really know. I know how much you hate to see someone sad, I know how obsessed you are about tofu, I know you try as hard as you can with anything you promise, and I know how much your friends matter to you. But, the time we've spent here has showed me how surprising you can be. You worked harder and accomplished more with your other side than I have so far with all the emotions I've worked to rejoin with. You keep outdoing yourself. I hope I get to see where you end up with this much drive." She smiled at him, her hand still in his. It had given her strength to finish and helped her feel calmer about the whole thing.

As Raven sat there looking at Beast Boy she felt like she was back with him in front of all of her emotions. Though this time, instead of him saying what he liked about each of them, each of them were saying what they thought of him. Wisdom admired his choices and determination to stick with what he considered the right choices no matter what. Happy thought he was funny and a lot of fun to be around. Crass thought he was funny looking, but in a good way, besides, he made her laugh with his belches. Intelligence was almost awestruck by his cleverness at times and couldn't help but smile at his ever-increasing knowledge of animals. Bravery respected him deeply for his heroism in so many situations. Anger couldn't stay mad at him, and was only mad at what he had done, not really him. Timid found comfort in his arms, he made her feel safe. Serenity found him to be an anchor in a storm with how predictably he sought to help others. Affection simply loved him. As Raven stopped to look at this thought in greater detail it came to her how much it would hurt if he went away in any sense or meaning. It would be like one of her own emotions had been ripped out of place. The thought of him gone scared her more than anything in her whole life had. Her father's advent included.

"Beast Boy…"

She had been quiet for so long that her words startled him a little. "Huh? Wha-what?" He quickly calmed himself back down and tried again. "What is it?"

"I…" A steadying breath with her eye closed helped her to calm down, and she pressed on. "I love you." As soon as she said it, Raven felt like her entire heart burst. It was the most powerful feeling she had ever had. She waited for him to answer, half of her afraid he wouldn't and the other half of her expecting it to happen any second now.

Beast Boy looked at her with his eyes misted over. It was the words he had hoped to hear for so long. It was air to a drowning man, food to the starving. "I love you too, Raven." He smiled brightly at her and passed out.

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(A/N) Of course it took forever to get to here! Did you really expect it to happen any sooner considering how closed off Raven has been against her own emotions? It would have been the vast majority of her life that she had suppressed and repressed her feelings. Takes a long time to undo that kind of work. Plus, some nut ball has control of the story's pacing. Let me know what you think. You know, if everyone were honest, I'd expect at least one "finally!" as somebody's reaction…maybe more than one.


	20. Fused Together

(A/N) Last chapter is now my most reviewed chapter. Wonder if it has anything to do with Raven saying she really does love Beast Boy? Could be! BrokenNevermore and pureangel86, yes, he really did have to pass out…I didn't say that was the end of the scene though…just made it the end of the chapter. ;-) Prince V, he passed out because I think it's funny and because he's kind of always been a little apt to freak out when intense emotional stuff happens. I think that's why he has all those weird theories. It's his way of coping with his panic. Star's-Fire, nope, I never get tired of people saying they liked what I wrote. It's just cool. Anyway, I'm glad I got so many people writing up reviews so quickly. Now, my only worry is how many people will finish reading the story when they've got the main thing they wanted…maybe I'll have them break up just so that they have to get back together again. ;-)

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Fused Together – Raven has feminine wiles…seriously.

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Raven was still seated in her chair, but was firmly looking away from Beast Boy with her arms folded across her chest.

"Come on, Rae, I said I was only kidding!" His joke hadn't gone over as well as he thought it would. "If it helps you forgive me, I scraped my knee a little falling out of my chair." He grinned hopefully at her, looking for even the slightest chance to catch her eyes with his. If he could do that, she might stop pouting.

"I just think it was in bad taste. I say that I love you and you pretend to faint. Do you know how hard it was for me to say all of that?" She turned to glare at him.

Dang…he was wrong about how getting her to look at him would calm her down. "I said that I love you too…doesn't that count for anything?" He bit his lip a little, seeing if it did.

Raven looked away from him again, he wasn't going to get her to stop being mad just yet. "Yes, it does, but that doesn't mean I'm not upset still."

"Aww, come on, what do I have to do to get you to stop being mad at me?"

Raven smiled evilly at him. "Will you do exactly what I tell you to?"

He swallowed a little. "Uh…y-yeah." The look in her eyes would have scared the chrome off the T-car.

"Good. I'll let you know when I've thought something up." She watched his ears droop and since she wasn't trying to ruin their evening, just get him back for pulling a prank at such an important time, she decided that they both could use less tension between them. "Did you want to go for a walk?"

Beast Boy's ears perked back up at her suggestion. "Sure." He quickly got to his feet and helped Raven out of her seat. After he had offered her his arm, they walked off to enjoy a moonlit stroll.

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Raven was still lying in bed the next morning, reminiscing on the night she had had. She had finally found out how she really felt about Beast Boy and they had spent a nice night walking, stealing glances at one another, smiling at each other, and they had kissed a little too. It was very strange for Raven to allow these things to happen. She thought about how recently it was that she was still closing off every emotion. She felt so different from then. She FELT. It made her head spin how much more promising life looked now that Trigon was gone. She had a future in front of her that she had never thought she would get to see…and she had someone she loved to share it with.

Feeling that she and Affection would have an easy time in their attempt at fusing right now she grabbed her mirror and was quickly in Nevermore. It was for that exact reason that she didn't hear Beast Boy knocking at her door, inviting her to breakfast.

After knocking a few more times Beast Boy cautiously opened Raven's door. Seeing the mirror in its familiar place on the floor he guessed that she was talking with some emotion. "Guess I'll just get some reading done." He had only taken a few steps away from her little house when he heard the door open from behind him. "Hey, Rae. I was just coming to get you for breakfast." He said as he turned around.

Two things caught his eyes in rapid succession, first was her leotard being a dull white color, and second was the way she was looking at him. It made him feel like he was about to be attacked…but strangely, not in a bad way. "Uh…you fused with…uhm…" He knew which emotion was supposed to be next; his brain was freezing up with the way she was walking towards him. She had her cloak open and her hips swayed slowly, like she was swinging them back and forth to hypnotize him the way a watch would be used. "So…you and Affection are…rejoined." She was standing right in front of him now, and if he had been paying closer attention, he would have also noticed how solidly purple her cloak was right then.

"Yes, Affection and I are no longer separate, and I have you to thank for that."

Her voice sounded sultry and suggestive. Suggesting what, Beast Boy didn't know, but it was making it hard for him to think straight. "M-me? Uhm, what'd I do?" If anything, this version of Raven was almost as frightening as her four eyed angry self.

Raven reached one of her hands delicately up to Beast Boy's cheek and caressed him gently. "You love me, and you let me love you." She leaned in and kissed him lightly, allowing her lips to linger, their breath mingling.

A now more familiar and determined thought came out from Beast Boy's memory. It allowed the kiss to finish before it really made itself know, it wasn't heartless. After they had parted the thought came to the front of Beast Boy's mind and his eyes snapped open to look at Raven. He had agreed to not take advantage of her when she merged with her emotions…and this would be the main one that that promise had been made for. "You want your breakfast?" He said a little higher than his normal voice, but he soon settled down more fully after hearing his voice squeak. "I made you eggs." He quickly walked over to her seat, both to show the tray with her food and to increase the distance between them. Another thought struck, just how many days would this last?

Raven beamed fully at Beast Boy. "Thank you, Beast Boy. That was very sweet of you." She looked to wear his chair and food were, a black glow covered them and they soon sat next to Raven's. "It'll be nice to eat together."

A quick nervous laugh popped out. "Uh, yeah." She had sat down and was obviously waiting for him to sit as well before she started. When he did, she ate her meal quietly, but kept looking at him in that same predatory way that seemed to be good somehow.

Beast Boy spent most of the morning keeping Raven from ignoring whatever she was supposed to be doing to just be with him. She had finally settled into her reading, so he was feeling relaxed as he took notes on the mythological animals of ancient Egypt. Lunch, on the other hand had presented a new set of problems.

Raven had insisted on doing the cooking and although she had improved in their time there, she was paying more attention to Beast Boy than the food. Her vegetable soup looked more like swamp water with how over boiled everything had gotten. Doing his best to not burst her bubble, Beast Boy had eaten two bowls of what tasted like several baby foods mixed together with lots of water spilled on them. The hard part about all of it was that Raven had set up the meal under the shade of a different tree than where they normally ate so that they could be even closer to each other. She kept putting her hand in his or resting it on his arm while they talked.

At least during the afternoon their training was of a more vigorous nature so that it would be harder for Raven to try stuff…at least that's what Beast Boy had expected. Instead, Raven had been so complimentary after each and every one of his transformations that they only got through a tenth of what he normally could do. She had apologized for it all, but her apology consisted of the words, a tight embrace, and a kiss. If Beast Boy's will power was going to survive the next few days, he would have to figure out how to get Raven to calm down some with the physical shows of affection.

He knew how he could handle the next day. Since it was a Saturday, he could just tell her he wanted to try going the whole day transformed to test his control. Hopefully, it wouldn't upset her. The evening ahead worried him, and he wasn't sure what he would do if she were still like this on Sunday. And, it wasn't like she was just trying to jump him, she was seducing him…and he wasn't all that hard to seduce.

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Dinner was calm enough, Beast Boy had cooked, and Raven seemed to be giving him a little more space. She still wanted to be sitting right next to him as they ate, but at least she looked more in control of herself.

"Beast Boy, do you think we could go for another walk tonight? I wanted to talk to you about some things."

She sounded a little uncertain of herself…this was good. It probably meant that Timid's influence was starting to show through. "Sure, any place you wanted to go?"

"I'd like it if we went out past the fruit trees towards the mountain."

That seemed harmless enough. "OK, let me just get the dishes over to the sink." He rounded up the used plates and other eating and cooking implements and was quickly off to the washbasin. When he got back, Raven was waiting for him, a small smile on her lips.

As they made their way through the trees Raven really did seem more like herself. They were holding hands and she kept stealing glances at him. It all helped to calm him down more concerning his worries from earlier. As they started to walk up the easier paths of the mountain Beast Boy noticed a vague familiarity about everything. "I've been here before. But…it was in a dream I think."

Raven smiled at him. "No, you've been here before." She continued to lead them on, and after coming around a small rocky bend, they stopped in front of a cave opening. "You've never been here as you, I thought it might be nice to come see your cave together."

That was where he knew this from! He HAD seen all of this in his dreams. For a few nights after he had realized how to control his other self he had had dreams of what his other side had done. He had even seen the fights against his friends and Adonis. "I don't know, Rae, maybe we shouldn't. It's really dark in there and we don't have anything for light really." That nagging thought was screaming for him to run for cover. "We should come back during the day some other time."

"But this was what I wanted to talk about." She had a slightly pained look on her face that made Beast Boy wait for her to continue instead of walking back to camp. "I came here a few days ago…after our date." The smile she had seemed to want to hide. "I was feeling bad about how it had ended, and just sat in the back of the cave. I fell asleep and I had a dream."

As soon as she said the word asleep a very strange smile came to her face. It was a calm, smaller smile, but it was the way her eyes were with the smile that made it so strange. They were partly closed, but they didn't look sleepy, they looked…inviting. Beast Boy wasn't sure what they were inviting him to do, but they held his gaze firmly.

Raven kept her eyes locked onto his and backed partly into the entrance of the cave. "In my dream, you found me here." She had finished entering and was pulling Beast Boy after her, the moonlight still visible from such a shallow point inside that they could still see one another. "You came up to me and did this…" She pulled him into her and kissed him fiercely, her desire taking over.

Beast Boy's mind was racing, but he was having a very difficult time hearing what it was saying with the distraction of a beautiful girl that he loved and who loved him back kissing him. He finally caught hold of some of the thoughts that flew by and realized how conflicting they were. Part of him wanted to give in completely to what he was feeling and to make her his, but another part of him was desperately looking for a way out that wouldn't hurt her. His promise rang in his ears again and tipped the scales towards escaping the situation safely. It needed to be quick, as Raven seemed to be exploring him again. He pulled away from her, keeping her hands in his before they got to anything he was uncomfortable with. "Raven…we can't do this."

"Yes we can, we're in love." She leaned in and kissed him again even though her arms were pulled out to her sides.

He broke their kiss again and kept her pulled back from him. "You're right, we are in love, but we're not married. You have no idea how badly I would love to just let go and let whatever happens happen, but I love you too much to do this the wrong way." She wasn't fighting him as much, but it was more like she was waiting for him to let go than she was listening. "I don't think we're ready for marriage, not to mention we're not old enough for it yet." That finally seemed to get through. "Please, let's just go back to camp…we can watch the stars before we go to bed."

She looked disappointed, but not upset or sad. "Alright, but I don't know if changing where we are will stop me from wanting you."

Beast Boy's insides did a few flips to rid themselves of any calmness they might have had left. The walk back was subdued, but they still held hands as they went.

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Thankfully, Raven had accepted his excuse of trying to last a whole day in control of his primal form and the day had been a nice break. After he changed back though, it was like she was trying to make up for lost time. Beast Boy ended up locking his door as a precaution when he went to bed.

Over the next few days Raven slowly came down from her emotion overload. As she did, a mortification of what she had done the first couple of days grew. She decided to apologize to Beast Boy and thank him for how he had behaved, and dinner seemed like the best time for it. As she sat eating next to the man she was starting to feel possessive of, she set her fork down and turned to face him more fully. "I'm sorry for how I acted…it…"

Beast Boy rubbed her back. "It's OK, Rae, I know you weren't really yourself then."

"It's not just that, it's just, it wasn't fair to you. I had you make that promise so that you wouldn't do anything with me when I wasn't thinking clearly. I never even asked you what you were and weren't OK with. I didn't know that you wanted to wait till you were married."

"It's something my mom and dad did. They waited just because it was the way things were back then…almost everybody waited. They never told me about it, I read it in a journal I have of theirs. I wanted to wait like they did…so that it was like they taught it to me."

Raven smiled at him. "That's kind of…weird."

Beast Boy smiled back. "Yeah, but it doesn't hurt anything…does it?"

Raven thought for a moment. "No, I just never thought about any of this stuff. If you want to wait, I can too. I never got taught any of this growing up. It was always about keeping my emotions under control."

"That kinda sucks. Didn't anybody think you were going to survive past that prophecy?"

Raven's face fell some. "I don't think any of them would have told me even if they did. They would have thought that it would give me hope, and hope inspires a lot of other emotions. They were supposed to be helping me avoid all of that kind of stuff."

"Which of your emotions is in charge of hope?"

"Happy."

"I always knew I liked her." He said grinning.

Raven's face brightened again. "I like her too…even if she does remind me of a weird cross between Starfire and you." Beast Boy chuckled a little. "Thank you for being a gentleman. It means a lot to me that you show me that kind of respect."

"I thought a gentleman was a guy who didn't have to work for a living?"

"What? Where did you get that from?"

"Cyborg gave me one of those vocabulary word a day calendars for Christmas one year, gentleman was on the only day I paid any attention to…New Year's day." He smiled sheepishly.

Raven closed her eyes and laughed to herself. "It's also a man who shows great respect to others…especially women."

"Oh…cool."

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(A/N) Shorter chapter than I expected, but really, it's either this or the last chapter and this one would have been one big chapter. The next two or so will probably be like that too…not short, just shorter than the ones before chapter 19. Oh, Regrem Erutaerc, I wanted to point out how right you were about what I had planned Affection's effect on Raven would be. You hit the nail right on the head. So, the rest of you, tell me what you think of this stuff. NOW!

…or not…whatever.


	21. Seeing Red

(A/N) BleachBurns, yes, abstinence, yes, I am serious, yes, really, yes. pimpofthetitans, just to explain a little, the main reason Raven couldn't handle what fusing with Affection caused was because she had almost zero experience in dealing with the emotion, especially in that way. Affection has been locked up as tightly, if not tighter than Anger. Just a fic before I go, a lesson to be learned, typing twice the speed of sound, it's easy to smash your keyboard to miniscule pieces.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Seeing Red – It's all about the love-hate relationship.

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A forest spread out in majestic grandeur. Tall trees of maple, oak, and various other deciduous varieties colored the summer landscape a deep, healthy green. A faint sound of a predator mercilessly attacking its prey echoed throughout the woods, frightening the birds from the treetops. In the distance Raven could make out the top of one of those trees as it toppled to the earth. Beast Boy's fighting training was going well.

Resisting the desire to go and watch him work, Raven drifted back to the ground and went into her hut. Her mirror was still in its place on the floor. The training she would be going in for today was probably the least appealing part of everything she had set out to do. Even though Anger was out from under Trigon's thumb, she still seemed like the worst part of Raven. As though every evil thing she could become was born from that one emotion.

Nevermore had changed so drastically that it looked more like a small, though sophisticated villa in the countryside. The path was now a cobble stone roadway that meandered over the low rolling hills. The buildings were now much closer together and there seemed to be an abundance of taller, dense bushes. The closeness of everything with the added cover of bushes convinced Raven that it was Timid's influence that had given this place so many hiding spots. The buildings were more varied now as well. The libraries were still there, though now large paintings relevant to what was contained in them decorated their walls. An art gallery of sorts, Affection's doing no doubt, was situated near the center of the tiny town. A smaller lake sat off to the side of the buildings, its waters forever mirroring the sky, it seemed no wind could disturb its calm surface. The largest building of them all, since the library was technically several buildings, was a miniature arena that sat before the forbidden door. Inside was a weight room, locker room, creature den (did she really need to have monsters still?), juice bar, and fighting area. It felt like she was in some ancient Greek city cultural center.

Raven sighed as she looked to the edges of the scene in front of her. Two arches in opposite directions were all that remained of her gateways. She could see Happy doing cartwheels outside of the gallery. After she had gotten too dizzy and fell over her laughter made its way up the hill where Raven stood. Happy stood and dusted herself off, then went into the building that housed Raven's most valued mental images. She smiled briefly to herself, but it quickly faded as she turned to walk towards the leftmost arch.

Her resolve locking into place, Raven touched the stones of the arch and waited. The glow had come and gone as usual, but Raven had little hopes the fiery emotion would answer her summons. After waiting for what she figured was a reasonable enough time, she stepped through the freestanding opening.

Anger's waste stretched out before Raven. The constantly smoldering volcano situated in the center of all the nothing left little doubt where Anger waited. The ground was dead and caked with cooled magma. Nothing grew here…nothing probably ever would. "Anger! I want to talk to you!" She had called out in as much volume as she could use without sounding like she was challenging the hothead. "Anger? Please, I want to listen to you!"

"Get out of my room."

Raven whirled around to find the red robed raging emotion fiercely glaring at her.

"No one goes in my room, or is that only OK for you? My freedom was just a scam, right?"

Raven kept herself calm. "I knocked and since no one answered, I came in. But I'll leave if that's really what you want."

Anger's eyes narrowed. "That is EXACTLY what I want."

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Raven flopped down on to her bed feeling tired and a little hurt. How was she supposed to work towards merging with a part of her that seemed like it wanted to stay separate? It was hopeless…no; there was hope…she just needed to not give in to that nagging depression that always wanted to bubble up when she dealt with Anger. Looking for something to cheer her up, she thought aloud, "I wonder if Beast Boy is back?"

Looking outside her bedroom door she saw the green teen humming to himself while he was making lunch. It looked like he was frying bananas, which seemed…wrong…to Raven. "Why're you frying fruit?" Her curiosity having carried her over to where he was happily fixing the food.

"It's a South American thing. I thought it would be fun to try something different." He continued his constant shifting of the pan over the fire so that the yellow fruit wouldn't burn. As soon as it was a nice caramel color he removed the slices and placed them on a couple of plates.

Beast Boy laid a plate in front of Raven and she watched as he took his seat next to her. She thought he looked a lot more excited about this then she could fake, but since he had suffered through her bad cooking at times, she would at least try his. The texture was a little strange for a banana, but Raven found the taste quite agreeable. It was almost like some kind of dessert. "This is good. Where'd you find out about this?" However, when she looked up from her plate to look at Beast Boy for the answer she saw him scraping his tongue with his fork.

"You liked that gross stuff? It was like eating something that sat under a bus!" He chugged his water to free himself from the flavor that clung to his taste buds. He would have continued if he hadn't caught Raven snickering behind her hand. "What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking that it was pretty ironic that you, the vegetarian, didn't like the fruit dish that I, an omnivore, did."

"What's an omnivore?"

Still smiling from everything, she answered, "It's somebody who eats meat AND plants."

Finally understanding what she had said, the humor of it all hit him. "That is pretty funny…but I need to go wash out my mouth with a hose."

He had stood and turned to leave when Raven called him back. "Beast Boy, wait…I want you to help me with something."

"Sure, Rae, what's up?"

She struggled to get the words out for a few moments, disappointed in her own feelings of weakness. "I tried talking to Anger this morning. It…didn't go very well. Can you come with me after lunch?" Her hands were wringing each other in her lap.

His smile calmed Raven's feelings of insecurity. "No problem. I wasn't looking forward to more combat training anyway."

"I think a few trees will be glad to hear that." She smirked.

A hand went behind his head self-consciously and he giggled nervously. "You saw that? I was…uh…trying out my claws and…they work!" He said half laughing.

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"Why can't we just go in?"

Raven paced up past Beast Boy and turned. "Because she's testing me. She didn't like that I came in last time without her permission, so this time, I'm going to wait her out."

Beast Boy slouched a little lower in his seat on the ground against the archway. "But we've been here a half hour already." He whined. "Isn't there another way to get her to come out?"

"Not without breaking my promise to her. It'd be forcing her to come here." She turned again in her pacing.

"Rae? Are these like normal doors, I mean, can you hear what's being said through them?"

"Yeah, why?" Raven stopped walking back and forth as she watched Beast Boy get up with a mischievous look in his eye.

Beast Boy took a deep breath and… "ANGER! ARE YOU EVER COMING OUT? RAVEN AND I ARE GETTING BORED!"

Raven just stared disbelievingly at him.

"What?" He smiled sheepishly. "It works with you…"

Raven didn't know whether to laugh because he thought it could work, or laugh because of why he did it. She didn't do either because of a voice behind her.

"Why're you shouting?" Anger had finally arrived.

Beast Boy let out a friendly smile. "I just wanted you to come out."

"I'm not going to talk to her. I refuse."

"Why not? I was the one who yelled."

"It's not because of the yelling, but shut up with that too." At least she wasn't screaming it…they should appreciate what she was doing for them.

Beast Boy's mind was racing, the hamster was getting tired and they were all out of food pellets, so he just said what came to him first. "If you're not gonna talk to her…will you talk to me?"

Anger eyed him suspiciously. "I'm not talking to you so that you can ask whatever she wants to know."

"I don't know what she wants to ask, so tell me what you want to talk about." It sounded like a good plan…keep her talking and he could maybe get her to relax. It was like talking to Raven on a bad day. He had gotten through a few of those safely, not all of them, but some.

"I'm too mad to talk." Raven snorted a little and Anger turned to glare at her, but she kept to her silent treatment and just shot daggers with her eyes.

"What're you mad about?" Didn't Cyborg tell Robin once that it was good to talk about your anger? It was probably after Slade had gotten away some time or other.

Anger snarled a little. "Her." She pointed at Raven.

Raven glared right back. "I didn't do anything this time, so you can just…" She only stopped because she saw Beast Boy waving for her to let it drop. She turned away in a huff.

"What'd she do?" He knew that it was the right thing to ask to get them closer to talking to each other, but he was also curious what an emotion could have against their creator.

Anger's face went from upset to livid. "SHE KEPT ME LOCKED UP FOR OVER HALF OF HER LIFE! She took the coward's way out to avoid her _daddy._" Anger was glad to see Raven fume at what she had said. "She's always being a coward. She was a coward when she ran from Slade on her birthday, she was a coward when she went WILLINGLY to daddy's side saying it was so you guys wouldn't have to suffer, she was a coward when Robin found her, and she's always been a coward about doing what wonder brat ordered her to do out here. The only reason she's here is because she's more scared of being kicked off the team then she is about trying to join with all of us." Anger stood as tall and erect as she could. "She's just a scared little girl who can't face life without someone holding her hand. That's why you're here, right, Beast Boy? Robin sent you so little Raven could feel accepted when she turns tail and runs away again?"

Beast Boy looked at Raven who was still standing her ground, eyes locked on the red-cloaked emotion. But…those same eyes had tears in them, tears that were slowly spilling down her cheeks. Her mouth was hard and set in a frown and her eyes looked fierce, but the tears came all the same. Beast Boy felt like a deer in the headlights. He had a couple of ideas of what to do, but he was caught in the choosing. Trusting in his first choice again, he walked to Anger and pulled her into a deep hug. "You need to stop. It's not going to help you to hate Raven. If you want her to be a better person, then you need to go back to her and not hold a grudge. If you don't, you're going to end up like Trigon. All hate…and defeated." Beast Boy kept hold of her for a little longer, she wasn't returning the hug, but she hadn't stiffened up or struggled. "I'm going to let go now…uh, don't hurt me."

Raven had watched everything in confusion and shock. She felt hurt that Beast Boy would go to Anger when she wasn't the one who had just been so cruelly insulted. A voice in the back of her mind told her to trust Beast Boy, but it was hard. She latched on to what trust she could muster and decided to listen to the voice. It didn't stop the pain inside her though.

Anger was watching Beast Boy closely. He had backed up by a few steps, but her was still looking at her.

"Are you mad at me?"

"…No." Seeing the doubting look on his and Raven's faces she scowled. "Stupid honesty promise crap." She mumbled under her breath.

Beast Boy decided to press his luck, it had worked out so far. "Are you gonna stay mad at Raven?"

Anger looked like she wanted to throw acid at Raven. "No." Seeing Raven's demeanor lighten up, she added, "but I want to."

Beast Boy smiled at Anger. "So you're not mad anymore?"

She turned to face him slowly. It was obvious that she didn't really want to answer, but her mouth opened all the same. "Yes, I'm still mad."

"At who?" Couldn't she just calm down to annoyance or slightly peeved once in a while?

"Robin because he manipulated us, Mumbo for turning us into a stupid bunny, Jinx for making fun of us, Slade for helping our father, our father, and…myself."

"Us means you emotions and Raven?" He wasn't sure, but the bit about Trigon made it sound like that to him. Anger nodded after rolling her eyes. "Why're you mad at yourself?"

Anger looked away from Beast Boy like she was ashamed. "Because I'm not mad at you…" Anger then quickly grabbed Raven and headed for her mountain through the arch. "You have to wait out here."

"Uhm…'K" And Beast Boy was alone. "Wish I'd brought a book." Laughter came bubbling out as soon as he realized what he had just said.

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As soon as Anger had let go of her arm Raven rubbed her wrist a little. "What's going on? Why'd we leave Beast Boy behind?"

"Because I don't want him here." Anger closed her eyes for a moment like she was trying to push down some rant or other. "I want to fuse, but I want it on my terms."

"Depends on what your terms are."

Another scowl scrunched Anger's face. "Fine, but I'm going to tell you why I'm doing this too…mostly because you won't like it." She smiled mirthlessly at Raven's glare. "What I want is a promise from you that I won't be locked up ever again."

"You know I can't promise that. It's too dangerous for me to let you out when you've got a full head of steam."

"That's why you have to let me out. If you don't, of course the anger will build until it explodes. If you let it out gradually, it stays manageable. Find some way to release it without destroying something or someone…like Cyborg does. He works on that stupid car of his. With our father gone, you should be able to handle your anger; it's time you started trying to. So…those are my terms. No more locking me out, find some other way than destruction to show me, and stop pretending you don't get angry."

This had to have been the calmest conversation Raven had ever had with Anger. It was like being in the eye of a tornado. Peaceful, but completely surrounded by chaos. "That sounds acceptable."

"Good, and just so you know, I'm not rejoining because of you. I don't think I could stomach that it if that's all there was." The look on her face mirrored her sentiment. "I'm allowing this to happen because of Beast Boy." Raven's confusion and shock was sweet to her. "I thought that'd leave you speechless. I'd like to point out that YOU have never been mad at Beast Boy…not really anyway. You've been annoyed, upset, and hurt, but never mad. It was our father who held such anger for him. Beast Boy sought your happiness, father would never have wanted that, so he exploited your annoyance and magnified it. I want that to be my last gift to you," she said, venom in every syllable. "You've treated him so badly for so long, when he never deserved it, and he still loves you. He sees something I don't yet…I'm willing to look for it."

Tears had stung Raven's eyes again, though she was able to keep them back. The most curious thing about what Anger had said was in the she made is seem like she valued Beast Boy's opinion. "Why couldn't you get mad at Beast Boy?"

Anger flipped her hood up before the blush she could feel starting would show. "I'm still part of you…Affection told you what it would mean to really be in love. That's why I'm willing to go back, because I want to see him too." Her annoyance resuming it's normal level of 'high' from seeing Raven holding in something that looked like a smile, she said, "Can we just get this over with already?"

Raven let go of her amusement and closed her eyes in concentration. Anger swung in a tight orbit around her as they rose skyward. Feeling like she needed to keep her focus more now, with Anger than she did for the others, Raven's face grew contorted with her efforts. After the red ring around her shrunk into place, merging the once separate emotion back within her, Raven kept very still.

She was afraid to open her eyes, afraid of setting off the now very present and aroused emotion. It was like holding a gun with the hammer cocked and the trigger half pulled.

"Uh, Raven?"

Her eyes shot open. "Weren't you told to wait outside?" She snapped.

He laughed a little strangely. "Uhm…I am outside. You just kind of appeared and everything went funny out here for a little bit."

Raven looked around and saw that he was where they had left him, except that the arch was gone. Looking around at the surroundings she saw that there was now a pair of mountains, one was majestic and snow capped, and the other was dark and smoldering. She couldn't figure out where the majestic one had come from…which of her emotions had influenced that?

Raven was shaken out of her thoughts by a giggle from behind her. She rolled her eyes and asked tiredly, "What is it, Happy?"

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(A/N) Hey y'all. Took a lot longer to write this chapter than it should have. And, it's not like I can use the excuse that I hit a block, 'cause I found this an easy and fun chapter to write. I'm just running out of steam right now. Missed another night's sleep the other day and I haven't gotten back into the swing of things still. My goal is to finish writing out the rest of the story before its one-month anniversary, which'll be the 5th of September. Here's hoping. Review, if you would be so kind.


	22. Everybody Hurts

(A/N) wizardmon92, combat uses of an aardvark? I have no clue, it's in there to keep him on his toes, besides, there could be non-combat uses for it. I just looked them up on wikipedia, and they have great senses of smell and come from Africa. And the reason Crass was orange was because that's what color the creators of Teen Titans gave Raven's rude side. Crass's name in the original comics actually was Rude. Talk to the guy who I'm about to address next to get the scoop on Raven and the original comics in general. Regrem Erutaerc, I did mention the color change from the merger with Affection, it was a dull white color as Beast Boy put it. It was just very early in the chapter. pureangel86, nobody else is left but Happy. The order of the emotions Raven's rejoined with are Wisdom, Crass, Intelligence, Bravery, Timid, Serenity, Affection, and Anger. BigQuise, I have no plans on a sequel to this fic, I'm avoiding creating new villains, which I'd have to do if I wanted the Titans to have a real challenge after beefing up Raven and Beast Boy like this. I also avoid the whole Dragon Ball thing of how everyone continually escalates in power, though I do enjoy that corny little show. BrianDarksoul, Anger…confrontational? Maybe.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Everybody Hurts – An angry Raven, a suffering Beast Boy, and a date? Idiots.

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"What is it, Happy?"

"I wanted to see your new color! Oooooo, it's almost white. Sweet!" She pranced around Raven as she spoke, peeking under, around, and through her cloak at the lightly shaded leotard. "So are we merging now? 'Cause I'm ready to merge now if you are!" She looked a tad bit excited.

Raven gawked at the pink robed self in front of her. "No." She said flatly. "I don't want to deal with you right now." She tried her best to keep the leave-me-alone-or-die tone of her voice as present as possible.

"OK." And Happy just ran off down the hill and leaped into the air to fly pretending she was Superman from an old TV show she had seen.

"Doesn't she ever knock it off?"

Beast Boy was smiling at the retreating pink form. "Knock what off?"

"That whole childish act, like nothing can make her stop being…uh, happy." She finished lamely, annoyed at her own unimaginativeness.

"The stuff that happens to you doesn't choose how you feel, it's all reactions."

"So I've been a victim of my own bad choices every time something blew up?" Her arms folded in front of her as she cocked an eyebrow at him.

Realizing how she was taking what he said and how she had just merged with Anger, Beast Boy quickly went into damage control mode…something he had plenty of practice in from failed pranks…the successful ones too. "Uh, n-no! I meant that she can keep being happy without it being an act if she chooses to feel that way."

Raven's gaze darkened. "So she's able to choose, and I'm not?"

This was so much worse than one of those stupid sitcoms where the guy had to figure out how to tell the girl she wasn't fat. "I didn't say that…I was just saying it so you wouldn't be mad at her."

"Why would I be mad at her? Just because she throws it in my face how she's so blitheringly giddy about life when I haven't been able to enjoy it like that…ever!" She was yelling a little now.

"Whoa! Calm down, Rae! It's not like that! She just…"

"And why're you defending her? Shouldn't you be on my side?" Definitely yelling.

This didn't look so good. How was he supposed to answer questions that were loaded better than Robin's utility belt? "Uh…I am on your side…so's she, she's you, just…the part of you that gets to be silly or smile or laugh when it wants to. That's what I want you to have…I want you to be able to feel everything you want to without having to worry about it, without it causing you pain." Why was she looking at him like that? "I want…you…are you…smiling?"

Raven let the smirk she had show a little more and nodded. "Now you know how I felt when you pretended to pass out!"

He just stared, open mouth, eyes glazed, arms dangling. Then his mind cranked back into gear. "That was totally awesome!"

Raven's smile fluttered between egotistical and gracious.

"Dude! You need to help me with pranks when we get back! They'd never know what hit 'em with you delivering the set up!"

"Maybe…come on…I want out of here."

"So…you want to go out of your mind?" His cheesiest smile accompanied his eyebrow waggle.

Raven smiled. "OK, that one was funny…keep working at it and they all might be."

"You only wish you'd thought it up first." He quipped.

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Raven smiled to herself as Beast Boy walked back into camp having just washed the dishes from dinner. She caught his suspicious look at her and she decided to indulge it. "I just figured out what you're going to do to say you're sorry for pretending to faint."

"…Uh…what, uhm, did you decide?" When he had walked back into camp she had only looked a little mischievous, now she looked like the cat that swallowed the canary…he was pretty sure he was the canary.

"You get to be the one who explains…us…to the rest of the team, AND…" she smirked, "you have to go on a date with me to the café I like to go to."

Beast Boy sighed in relief. "That's not so bad, I was really worried for a second. I mean, sure, Cy and Robin will probably tease and bug me about the details and everything, and Star'll crush me in some hug, but she'll…but…you're…why're you smiling like you did the last time you pulled something on me?"

A nice sinister smile lit up Raven's cheeks. "Because I wasn't done setting my terms. You also have to dress like the people at the café usually do and you have to read a poem in front of them."

"OK, now that sounds a lot more like what I was expecting." He replied half stunned. "Do I have to write the poem?" He was starting to sweat.

Raven's face softened some. "No, but whatever poem you do has to be a serious one, no goofy or silly things so that you can try and get me back." She was surprised to see Beast Boy looking at her with pride. "What?"

"You HAVE to help me pull at least one really good prank on Cyborg. You're awesome at fixing the loopholes! I'll even make you a deal. You help me with Cy and I'll write a serious poem for the coffee place. Deal?"

"I think I can agree to that." The canary tasted good, she thought to herself. It's cute when he thinks in animal metaphors.

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Beast Boy didn't know how he had done it, but he had. Raven was going to actually do some combat training with him. He would change into his other self and she would use her powers to subdue him. He wouldn't be attacking her, since she couldn't take a hit like he could while he was changed. Instead, he would be making an attack on a solid oak tree that they figured could sustain a good bit of damage.

The ground rules were simple. Beast Boy would attempt to score hits on the tree, and he could use any trickery he wanted to do except for directly attacking Raven. Raven could do anything she wanted to defend the tree, since they both knew she wouldn't be able to generate a bubble around the whole thing and although the beast couldn't break free from her prison spheres, Beast Boy could just by changing into something too large or heavy for Raven to hold.

The fight would be fair and even.

Raven started next to the tree while Beast Boy stayed out of view about two hundred yards away. Raven was flying around the top of the tree, attempting to keep a sound lookout in all directions. She had tried to feel where Beast Boy was with her powers, but he had eluded her so far. A sharp sound called her attention to the south and she was quickly shielding the trunk from a rapidly approaching Beast Boy. He tried dashing to the side to gash the tree's bark from the side as he passed, but Raven had moved her shield with him.

Suddenly springing straight upward he slashed through several tree limbs and branches. Raven adjusted as fast as she could and let his leap carry him right into one of her barriers. He collided firmly with the black force and began falling half limp to the forest floor.

He landed with such a loud crash that Raven came zooming in as quick as she could. "Beast Boy! Are you all right?"

He sprang forward at the sound of her voice and scored a savage hit into the oak's flesh. Raven growled to herself at being caught in a trick of him playing possum. She quickly grabbed several of the fallen tree branches with her powers and let them smack the Titan back away from her charge. Beast Boy retreated out of sight, running back into the surrounding trees. Raven had locked onto him while he was out in the open, and knew right where he was.

She felt him drawing near, though at a much slower pace than before, like he was sneaking in on a deer before he pounced. Raven readied herself, he'd be coming into sight soon…just through those bushes…soon…but he never came. Well, she felt him still drawing steadily nearer, but she couldn't see him. A thought came to her, he's underground! She quickly phased her arm into the earth where she was sure he was at and felt around for anything. Nothing came, and he still seemed to be steadily getting closer to the tree. Raven was sure he was practically next to her, but she couldn't see anything, and she couldn't find him underground either. She looked up, expecting to see some bird or other, but she knew he was somewhere beneath her feet…no, past them now.

Raven calmed herself and thought…he's not underground, so he must be above it. He's coming very slowly…he's not sneaking slowly in, so he probably can't move that fast. He's got to be some kind of bug or something. She stepped in between where she felt Beast Boy was and let her powers blast all the leaves and dirt at her feet away from the trunk. As the blast came she saw a small bit of something flow into the form of a rhinoceros. It charged in to gouge the tree with its horn, but Raven caught it and let it slam into another tree that was behind him. Beast Boy seemed to disappear again, and he was moving a lot faster this time. Raven was having trouble keeping up with his movements, which seemed erratic.

She caught sight of a green blur zinging past her, which she tried to stop with another black wall right in its path. Beast Boy must have been expecting it and sprang upward in his beast form, chopping through several more branches, which rained down on Raven. She shielded herself from the wooden shower and fumed at the rising green creature. She quickly grabbed hold of him and launched him back towards the ground. He hit so hard that he bounced a foot or so after impact.

Beast Boy sprang to his feet and launched himself straight at Raven, a loud roar accompanying his charge. Raven threw a shield around herself; shocked that Beast Boy was attacking her. Her eyes closed fractions of a second before he impacted, but no collision sounded. Raven looked around her and didn't see her Beast Boy anywhere. She had lost contact with him and attempted to feel out his location again. She turned around towards the tree, he was…inside it.

Raven backed away a few steps as an ominous crackling sound came from the old oak. The trunk blew apart in a rage of sound and splinters. The tree toppled over, crashing to the ground with an even louder cacophony of noise. Standing where the once mighty tree had been was a grinning Beast Boy, splinters and dirt littering every inch of him. "I win!"

"OK, fine!" She fumed. "How did you blow up a tree?"

Beast Boy jumped down from his victory stand excitedly. "Well, when I saw you close your eyes I changed into a humming bird and went around to the backside of the tree! Then I changed into a cell like I did when I went in Cyborg and when I got to what I thought would be the middle of it, I couldn't really see anything, I changed into a golem and blew the trunk apart, but I had to wait till it finished falling before I could change back."

"A golem?" He nodded to her. "You changed into a golem." Another gleeful nod. "THEY'RE MADE OF STONE!"

His ears drooped heavily. "Uh, yeah. I was reading about them, and I figured that it was worth a shot. If it didn't work, I would have just tried coming back out and thinking up something else." His words had gotten softer as he spoke. There were several stones, branches, and tree bits floating in the air surrounded by a black aura.

"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CHANGE INTO THAT! IT'S NOT A CREATURE! IT'S NOT FLESH AND BLOOD!" Red eyes blazed as the thought of her complete and total loss filled her mind.

"I-it's alive…"

"HOW CAN STONE BE ALIVE?"

"Raven!" He squeaked. "You need to calm down! L-l-look what you're doing!"

Raven just glared at him. "I," everything in the air started to crack and break, "DON'T," the pieces that had just been made smaller broke, "CARE!" and the last of what was floating turned to powder. Raven shot off into the air, ignoring Beast Boy's calls. She just needed away from all of this. She was supposed to be the powerful one! She'd been the one whose power had stopped Trigon! She was the one who could destroy a whole planet! He should never have been able to beat her!

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Raven finally landed on the far northern side of the island where the mountain seemed to have partly fallen into the ocean. She just sat on the edge of the cliff watching the waves crash against the base of the rocks. She was so upset with herself. She had blown up at Beast Boy just because of losing a sparring game. He hadn't done anything wrong, in fact he had been really clever. She just didn't like the feeling of losing.

No, Anger doesn't like the feeling of losing, she thought. Anger would almost rather have died trying than lose. Bravery had told her so. Anger…she was the part of Raven that couldn't stand anyone or anything that could be linked to an unwanted emotion. Fear, loneliness, jealousy, worthlessness, pain, and anything else that any normal person avoids, Anger was the one who looked for some other place to put the blame. It was a way to avoid the hurt that came from opening yourself up and having someone not treat what they saw kindly. Raven lashed out at those who would prey on her insecurities.

What hurt most now was how bad she was yelling at herself in her head for acting like she did. She loved Beast Boy, why couldn't she have been happy for his victory?

Happy.

Happy isn't in place yet. Happy was the missing piece and now it just showed more than ever.

Raven understood what Beast Boy meant when he had said about how reaction was the real source for what we feel. The reason Happy could, and always would be happy was because she could accept everything that came. She could accept that sometimes, life tries its best to hurt you, and because she could accept the pain, she could also accept the joy. She was always happy because she was ready and willing to feel that way at all times. She accepted what her limitations were and looked at the best part of everything. A few tears clouded Raven's vision.

"I want that so badly…"

"You want what so badly?" Beast Boy asked as he sat down next to her.

Raven quickly wiped the tears from one of her eyes, but before she could get the other Beast Boy had raised an ungloved hand to her face. His palm rested softly against her cheek as his thumb lightly brushed the drops from under her eye.

"Please talk to me."

Her heart broke open at those words and a few more tears fell. She reached for him and hugged him for all she was worth. "Beast Boy, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to get so mad at you; I'm just struggling so badly right now. Please don't be mad at me. I'm sorry…I'm sorry."

He held her tightly as she silently sobbed on his shoulder. "It's OK, Raven. I know you weren't yourself. I love you no matter what. Don't ever forget that. No matter what." He kept his hold on her even after she had stopped her apologies and sobs. "What did you want so badly?"

Raven loved the warmth of being in Beast Boy's arms. She didn't want him to let go ever. She could fall asleep so easily like this. Which is why she barely heard his question. "Huh? What…what'd I want so bad?"

"Yeah."

"I…" The thought was bittersweet, sure it would eventually happen, but Raven wanted it now. "I was thinking about Happy. I want what she has, to be able to accept life for better or worse and focus on the best."

"Me too."

She turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"I can't do that either. At least part of you already can. It's what everyone should want. To enjoy life, not because you're ignoring the bad stuff, but because you can just accept it. That's really hard."

Raven nuzzled her head back against his shoulder. "I'll help you if you help me."

"Deal."

She felt him lightly kiss her cheek, which made her smile shyly. "How'd you find me?" She liked hearing him laugh, he always meant it when he laughed, he really wasn't mad.

"I can change into any kind of animal, and a lot of them have really good senses of smell." He rubbed her arm a few times. "You have a smell I could find anywhere…even in my room." He laughed again.

"So what do I smell like?" His laughter came again; he must have been counting on her asking.

"I always thought that if I ever got brave enough to actually check, that it would be something like violets or lavender. But you smell like passionflower and a soft chemically smell…and," he blushed a little, "you smell like you. There's something else in your scent I can't figure out. It's just…you. I think it's your skin. Whatever makes it always moon kissed probably makes it smell different. I like that smell best."

Raven was blushing a little too. "Well…the passionflower is my shampoo, the soft chemical smell is either my deodorant or my soap. I get the scentless stuff." She just didn't know how to thank someone for complimenting your natural odor.

Beast Boy laughed softly again. "What do I smell like?"

Raven laughed a little too. "Dirty laundry."

"Yeah…I, uh, need to do mine." He sat there holding her, waiting for a little while before asking what was nagging at his mind. "Hey, Rae?"

"Yeah?" She answered, a little sleepily.

"How come nothing else before now has been grabbed by your powers when your emotions have been going a little out of control?"

Raven reluctantly woke up more fully. "Because…well, OK. First, you have to remember that my emotions and my powers are linked."

"OK."

"I control my powers with my mind by concentrating. My emotions are like the batteries. When there's too much emotion I get a power surge and anything in my mind influences what my powers do. If I'm not concentrating hard enough for the level of emotion that wells up, my subconscious gets some control, and so do my emotions themselves. That's why Anger destroys stuff and Timid made that monster real."

"I can understand that. It's like why Cy and I always use a power strip for the gamestation, so that if there's too much juice it doesn't fry it."

"Right. Well…without Trigon messing around inside my head, I have a lot more control. So, when those surges come I've been able to hold the overflow back from releasing stuff. It's like unplugging the gamestation during a lightning storm. But, as more emotions got added, it got harder. Affection, Anger, and Happy have the largest amount of juice to offer. So, when they get added back it's a major jump in what I have to keep watch on. Affection pushed me pretty much to my limit, Anger pushed me over."

Beast Boy was listening closely so that he wouldn't get lost as she explained everything. "But…if Anger pushed you over the edge, what's gonna happen when Happy jumps in?"

Raven smiled sadly. "I don't know. I know that every time I've become whole it's like I could use or not use my powers like it was nothing, like no amount of emotion could overflow my powers. It's like having a bottomless pit to put them in and to pull them out of again when I need those batteries."

A small chuckle dropped out of his mouth. "It's kinda funny that we're using batteries and the gamestation to explain something about you."

"Yeah," she smiled, snuggling into him, "it is."

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The next day Raven felt better than she had in days. She was sure she would be able to rejoin with Happy in a week or less and she had slept great. She was just coming back into camp from her morning shower when she saw Beast Boy loading his stuff into boxes in a huff.

She walked worriedly over to him. "I thought you weren't mad."

He stopped abruptly what he was doing, finally noticing her. "I'm not mad, Rae!" He walked over to her and gave her a quick hug. "Well…I'm not mad at you. Robin called while you were…uhm, out. They're coming to pick us up."

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(A/N) You know, if I were to do my endnotes the way most fic authors I read do it would be something like this: Why is Robin calling Raven and Beast Boy back to the Tower early? Is something wrong? And will Raven be able to finish her training? You'll have to read the next chapter! Something like that, but I think that doing it that way is just a lame plea for people to keep reading the story by shoving it in their face how they just got a cliffhanger. Of course, by showing all of you my hypothetical lameness, I've effectively done the exact same thing. So…review…uhm, 'K?


	23. A Strong Fear

(A/N) McDowellandkid, no, not really a good thing for her, but if I went easy on the characters it would be a pretty dull story. ;-) BrokenNevermore, right now Raven doesn't even have a fuse. Overactive Mind, he dared because he can…it's a leadership thing. lol61188, I can't really answer your question here…but if you read below it should be answered. Robin+Raven4ever, including this chapter, three or four more plus an addendum, by the way, I wouldn't have expected anyone with your nick to read this, but I saw your bio page…still. ;-) And, as just a little thing, I'll explain where I got Raven's smells from. I went online and looked up basic bathroom products (shampoo, soap, deodorant) that had purple wrappers. Only the shampoo wasn't unscented, it's an Herbal Essence brand. Yeah, pretty sad. Kinda proves that I'm just a tad bit weird. I like being a tad bit weird though. The looks on other people's faces are hilarious.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – A Strong Fear – Where you get to find out what happens next.

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Raven was distractedly stacking up her freshly packed clothes. Beast Boy had gone to bring in the sink, the last of Cyborg's conveniences that he had sent with them. Both of them had been glad to find the toilet was self-cleaning. What had her so distracted was the small quantity of information they had been given. They were being picked up in less than an hour because of trouble back in Jump City. Robin hadn't given Beast Boy any details, except that none of the Titan's themselves would be able to come and that it involved Adonis. He had called in a favor to the billionaire who funded their tower and equipment, Bruce Wayne, to get them the ride home.

Raven had talked to Beast Boy about what they should do.

"_What about Happy? Are you gonna try and fuse with her before they get here?"_

"_I don't think that would work out very well. If I was able to merge with her, I'd be too giddy to be any help, and if I wasn't able to, I'd probably be so mad that I'd end up blowing up half the tower. I'll just have to wait till after we help with whatever we've been called in for."_

"_That sucks."_

"Catch twenty-two." Raven sighed as she stacked her last bag. She looked around at the place that had been her brief home and actually felt a little sad about leaving. It was a beautiful place, she and Beast Boy had fallen in love here, and she had almost finished becoming whole here too. The sight of a couple of crates, a few boxes, and some bags all in the same spot just drove home how real this uprooting was.

She looked at the homes that Beast Boy still adamantly called huts and smiled. She walked around each of them, allowing the sights to remind her of what had happened while they'd lived in them. She got to the far side of Beast Boy's and saw that he still had one of the windows open. She rolled her eyes and finished rounding the structure to shut it from the inside.

She smiled when she saw that the floor was clean. The last time she had seen the whole floor clear of his mess was when they had gotten there. She got to the window and reached to close it. Her hand hung in the air for a second while she tried to figure out why there wasn't any glass in the frame. A dawning thought provided her answer. "So that's how he fixed my window after he broke it." Hearing grunts coming through the door carried her attention to outside where Beast Boy had just walked into camp with the repackaged sink in his gorilla form's arms.

Slinking back into his normal shape Beast Boy wiped the sweat from his forehead. "That's it, we're ready to go."

As if on cue, a faint sound of the approaching helicopters drifted to them. It took another minute or two before they saw the black crafts through the clearing. They landed and a stocky man hopped out of one of them. "You're Raven and Beast Boy?" He called over the engine's whine. They nodded and he continued. "We we're told that you'd be able to hook up the RDs once we're airborne!"

"The what?" Beast Boy shouted back.

"Rapid Deployment shelters! The buildings you've got!"

"Oh, those! Yeah, we'll hook 'em up!" Beast Boy knew it would be Raven doing the hook up, but he also knew that she didn't like to shout.

After everything had been loaded and attached they took off back towards the tower. It would be several hours before they'd arrive, several hours for Raven to feel like she hadn't accomplished anything. With the way she was currently, it was like nothing really had happened. She'd have to meditate to keep her fused emotions calm enough that she didn't accidentally blow up anything and she had to keep tight watch over her anger. She didn't know what she could do to keep her promise about letting her anger out in some way, but knew she needed to figure something out soon. She was sure that if she didn't keep the promise to Anger, that the fuse would break and then it would be MUCH more difficult to get it to happen again, if ever.

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The decent onto the top of the giant T tower filled Raven with apprehension. She didn't like being kept out of the loop for any reason, and her anxieties about the current instability with her powers only added to everything. At least I can relieve some of that tonight when Beast Boy has to explain about us, she thought, which brought a small smile to her lips. What brought an even bigger smile was the orange-ish face of Starfire smiling through the window. They were still a good fifty feet off the ground; she must have been too excited to wait.

Starfire quickly disappeared underneath the crafts to lift the buildings off to the other end of the roof. After the choppers had landed and they'd unloaded everything she immediately grabbed Raven and Beast Boy each in tight hugs. Not as tight as she normally gave, so she must have recently learned a little bit about just how hard she hugged. Maybe Robin had finally asked her out and their first make-out session had taught her a few things about how fragile people could be…then again, it could have just been something like hugging Hotspot.

The copters soon were off and left still only Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire on the roof to carry in the bags inside. "Where're the others?" Raven may not have always shown it, but she liked the attention that her teammates gave her. Seeing that only Starfire had come to meet them felt…saddening.

"They are on the patrol. We have been trying to locate Adonis before he causes more harm. They will be back soon." Starfire's bubbly demeanor had deflated at the mention of Adonis, and it didn't seem able to return.

Beast Boy caught her change in body language as he walked behind the other two towards the stairs. "What happened, Star? What's he up to?"

Starfire turned and looked at him, real fear showing in her face. "He has changed back into the beast. We fought him and he appears to have gained in power. I…" Trembling a little, she continued. "I was attacked by these new abilities and have not been able to face him since."

"Dude! I'm gonna beat the living snot out of that muscle head!" Nobody had the right to scare the joy out of Starfire! Especially not the idiot who thinks he's allowed to use my other form, Beast Boy thought savagely.

His attitude made Starfire's smile return, though it still looked shaky. "Thank you, friend Beast Boy. I will still need to regain my courage for battle though."

They finished taking the bags to their proper rooms and went to sit in the common area. Beast Boy wandered over to the kitchen and set a kettle on the stove. Then rummaging through the fridge he let out a disgruntled whine. "Cy's figured out how to cram more meat in here than ever! Doesn't anybody else eat vegetables?"

"I do, but I think it's safe to say that you won't find my stash in there either." Raven had walked over to take the kettle off since it was whistling. "Thanks for the hot water."

"Not a problem, but you gotta leave me some. I want to make cocoa."

"I'll do it. You can see what canned stuff they've got in the cupboards."

"Oh yeah! I totally forgot about canned food." He smiled warmly at her before he opened the first set of doors. He pulled out a can of cut green beans and a can of creamed corn and set to opening them and putting them in bowls before popping them in the microwave. "You want some, Rae?"

She smiled at him as she handed him his hot chocolate. "Sure."

Starfire had watched them interacting with each other during the whole scene. Her smile and thoughts couldn't be contained, not after the way they had looked to smile at each other. "Friends! What has transpired between the both of you that you look at one another in such a way? I would say what I believe it to be, but I do not wish to bring discomfort if I am wrong."

Raven, who had her cup of tea up to her lips, looked in Beast Boy's eyes and smiled lightly as she drank.

Understanding what the look meant, Beast Boy turned to Starfire. "Well…I'd like to tell you, but I want to wait till Cy and Robin get here so I can tell them at the same time." He pulled his hand down from behind his head. "And you can't tell them about any of it before I do, OK?"

Starfire's eyes sparkled their brightest as she answered. "Your reply has made me feel that I am correct in my thinking, but I will keep this knowledge the secret as you have asked, friend Beast Boy."

"Uh…thanks, Star."

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A half hour later, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg, and Robin were all sitting around the table. Robin had called them all together as soon as he and Cyborg had gotten in. "Alright, I know you two aren't happy about being called back early, but you may have noticed a couple of things when you got here."

"Yes. Where are Hotspot and Wildebeest, and what did Adonis do to Starfire?" Raven eyed Starfire with as much compassion as she dared. If she allowed herself to feel too much her anger would boil over out of rage to find Adonis and punish him for hurting her friend.

"Hotspot left after he got into an argument with Wildebeest…"

"Again." Cyborg interjected.

"And said he was going to start on the Titans North group without him. Wildebeest left a few days later to go after him. They both decided to stay out there because it had been so slow here. They've got their own problems now, which is why we called you guys back in instead of them." Robin looked sadly at Starfire.

"Adonis has started breaking into any place that deals with large amounts of chemicals in the city. We don't know what he wants them for, but we caught him at a computer chip plant trying to make off with a huge vat of hydrochloric acid. He changed into that beast," Robin's gaze darkened considerably at these words, "and started his attack. We did what we could, but with only three of us, it was tough. He must have figured out something about the transformation, because his power suit armor changed with him. Star went and swooped in behind him while Cy and I had him distracted and tackled him hard into a wall. He was able to break free and he threw her to the ground. He must have done something to her, because she ran away from him screaming. And since she was gone, he was able to escape from Cy and me, but at least he didn't get the acid."

Raven looked at Starfire who was hanging her head in obvious pain from regret and shame. Raven focused the anger that bubbled up in her onto her empty cup and turned it instantly into powder. Looking down at the cup she said, "Sorry."

Robin smiled half-heartedly at her. "It's OK, it's what I feel like doing to him too."

Raven decided to not tell him that she had managed to control the rest of the power surge by turning one of the huts into a marble. Instead, she decided that she should cheer Starfire up. "So, that's why we're back, to help catch Adonis?"

"Yeah, Rob and I have been doin' checks at the places with lots of chemicals, makin' sure we're tapped into their alarms so we know when biceps-for-brains makes his next move. We figure the added firepower'll take him down." Cyborg chimed in.

Raven turned to Beast Boy and gave him a little look and then looked pointedly at Starfire. He just sat there looking confused, which caused her to roll her eyes. "Hey, since that's it, Beast Boy wanted to tell you guys something."

Beast Boy finally caught up to what Raven had meant with the whole eye thing, but it was a little late because everyone was already looking at him from what she had just said. "Uh…I…uh…" His courage wavering with the too familiar audience in front of him, but when he saw Starfire still looking down at her own lap, he grew more determined. "Yeah, I wanted to tell you guys some cool news, kind of a pick-me-up after all that Adonis stuff. Starfire probably already guessed this earlier today," Starfire looked up at her name and her eyes widened with excitement. "But well, uhm, while Raven and I were out training we kinda started, uh…dating."

Starfire's smile blazed with the brightness of a thousand suns. "Glorious!" She shouted. She was soon flying around the table to give Raven and Beast Boy hugs. She kept saying how happy she was for them and giggling.

Robin only looked mildly surprised, but it was more like the look of someone who had figured out all the possibilities and saw that the long shot had happened. This irked Raven slightly, but she decided it was fine since she would get him back by talking to him about Starfire sometime or other.

Cyborg was the one who looked truly shocked. He just sat there with his mouth half open turning stunned eyes back and forth between Beast Boy and Raven. He found his tongue after Starfire had finished hugging Beast Boy. "No way."

"Way!" A confidently smiling Beast Boy replied.

"There's no way. It's gotta be some kind of joke." His mind locked onto this idea, it made more sense. A large relieved smile lit up his face. "Man, you really had me! That's the best prank you've ever pulled, and you got Raven in on it too!" He let out a barrel laugh, but it died as he saw the cold glare Raven gave him. "Uh…what's up, Rae?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Only Beast Boy gets to call me that."

Cyborg swallowed. "OK, Raven, why you givin' me that look?" It would be so much easier to back away if I wasn't sitting down, Cyborg thought.

"Because," her voice in that deadly calm, "he isn't joking. He's telling the truth."

Cyborg may have been intimidated, but he wasn't convinced. "Sorry, not buyin' it." He gave a look that backed up his words.

"Dude! It's totally true!"

"Oh yeah? Then prove it!" It's a LOT easier to yell at Beast Boy.

Beast Boy sighed exasperatedly. "How am I supposed to do that? It's not like we made a video or something."

Cyborg smiled his most deviant smile. "It's easy," he taunted, "just give your girl a kiss!" This'll teach him to try and keep a prank going after I've got it figured out.

A sheepish smile came to Beast Boy's face as he looked at Raven out of the corner of his eye. She was looking shyly to him, but when she saw Cyborg grinning like he'd won the argument she looked mischievously at Beast Boy. His smile widened and he leaned over to her.

Cyborg was just about to declare himself the winner when Beast Boy had started leaning towards Raven. He had only gotten out, "See? I…" before his voice left him. He quickly reached up to his electrical eye and went through every viewing option he had. His human eye wasn't seeing things, and his cybernetic eye wasn't malfunctioning. Raven and Beast Boy were sharing a very real and…uhm…DEEP…kiss. "Dang."

Beast Boy only stared at Raven as they broke. "I told them."

Raven smirked. "And I'll bet Cyborg believes you now."

It was at this point that Robin decided it was best to make his presence known. "Hey guys, it's getting late. Why don't we all get to bed?"

"Late? It's, like, four in the afternoon!"

"We're going to bed now because Adonis only seems to work very late at night, around three or four in the morning."

"Ugh…I have to get up even earlier now? I just barely got used to getting up before eleven!"

"Actually, Beast Boy, we were getting up around eight."

"See?"

Robin smiled. "Then you should be able to adjust to this change soon too."

Everyone got up and started heading to their rooms. Robin stopped Raven and Beast Boy before they could follow their fellow Titans to an early slumber. "I wanted to tell you guys that I feel a lot better having both of you here to help with this." His face saddened like it had earlier. "We need to catch him so we can find out what he did to Star. I can't stand to see her like this."

Raven eyed Robin sympathetically. "I know what you mean. She hasn't mentioned going to the mall even once since we got back."

"She won't leave the tower. She's afraid he'll show up wherever she is and attack her."

"But…she came to smile at us when we were landing…how'd…"

"She was probably terrified the whole time. She counted down the hours till your guys' return when I told her I was calling you back in." He said, cutting Beast Boy off. "She's missed you."

Beast Boy looked at Robin sadly. "We'll find him and catch him, Robin. I beat him last time, I'll do it again for you and Star."

Robin looked at his green friend in soft admiration and large gratitude. "Thanks, Beast Boy. But don't try and be the hero all by yourself, he's a lot tougher this time." His face had hardened a little with his advice, but softened again. "Thanks…and…congratulations to you two…I guess. I don't really know what you're supposed to say to two friends who start going out."

Raven smiled calmly at him. "I don't know either, but I wouldn't mind having the same dilemma."

Robin blushed a little behind his mask. "Uh, goodnight, guys…and…never mind."

"What?" Beast Boy asked, curious.

"I just…well…I think you…"

"Just say it." Raven toned out.

"Be…uhm, safe with…whatever you guys do."

As realization hit Raven and Beast Boy they both found that it was uncomfortable to look anybody else in the eye. Red seemed to have broken out like an epidemic among the three.

"Uh, dude…I'm waiting until I'm…married." Beast Boy felt sure that Robin was going to say some teasing remark or at least have some incredulous smile on his face after his lame way of saying they should use protection. Something that would mean "aw, how cute. He's saving himself."

"Cool. Well, night."

After Robin had left, Raven looked over at Beast Boy. "THAT was uncomfortable."

"Yeah, but at least he didn't make fun of me for waiting."

Raven smiled at him as she took his hand. "Don't worry, there's still Cyborg."

Beast Boy smiled back at her and walked her to her room. "Night, Rae."

"Goodnight, Beast Boy." She kissed him briefly and went to sleep in her own bed for the first time in a good while.

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The siren blared throughout the tower and five bleary-eyed teens grouped into the common room. Their leader's words acted like a stiff jolt of caffeine to their sleepy minds. "It's Adonis. Titans, GO!"

Adonis had attacked another factory that was using massive amounts of chemicals. It was among a storeroom's fifty gallon drums that the Titans spotted him. He was loading up a pallet, tying all the barrels together so he could carry them off.

"Drop the drums, dumbbell!" Robin had no idea why he enjoyed saying some corny little line to let the bad guy know they were there, but it had always just felt right to him.

"Don't you dudes know when you're beat? Adonis will always triumph!" He turned to grab a barrel to throw at them but found himself already being hit by something. It knocked him hard into the wall he was facing.

"You're not getting away this time."

Adonis quickly got to his feet and grinned when he saw who had attacked him. "So the animal is back…Adonis can handle you now." His shape seemed to stretch and twist in a painful way, but he soon had finished. The dark yellow beast stood smiling at him.

Beast Boy laughed coldly and was instantly in the same form. The two beasts eyed each other. The green one suddenly was in a low crouch about to spring forward, the yellow one had braced himself for the impact, instead, the yellow one found himself looking closely at the label of a fifty gallon drum before it hit him square in the face. He staggered back, dazed from the blow, but was quickly looking for the source so he could shred it to pieces.

His eyes fell on Raven as she lifted another barrel into the air with her powers, but again he was hit by something other than what he was expecting. This time a blue beam struck him in the middle of his chest, pinning him up against the wall. When the beam ended he collapsed to the floor. He was on his hands and knees when he roared loudly.

He sprang up and through the plaster ceiling, and out into the main factory floor area. It was room to fight in he was after, he was too mad to run now. Robin was the first to spot him; he had followed through the hole. Robin let out a loud yell as he brought his bo staff down on the yellow beast as hard as he could. The beast was fast enough to dodge, but Robin had counted on this and had already sprung forward into a slightly pole-vaulted jump kick.

It connected and the beast was sent flying from the roof of the storeroom onto the factory floor. Robin ran after him and looked over the edge, but the creature had already moved. The other Titans were looking up at him since they had just gotten out of the room seconds before. "He's still here! Spread out!"

Robin leapt down and ran towards one of the four corners of the giant room. Beast Boy turned into a falcon and glided towards another, rapidly turning his head every direction he could on his course. Cyborg ran to another, looking under, around, and over, the conveyer belts he passed. Raven glided towards the last, at the same end of the factory as Beast Boy was heading towards.

Raven passed a scrap pile and failed to notice that it had moved slightly as she did so. She looked up at the green bird ahead of her and off to her left when she was struck from behind. It knocked the wind out of her and she felt a pair of hands lift her by her shoulders.

"Hey, animal! Looks like Adonis is even better at using this changing trick than you are!" Before Adonis could react there was a very angry polar bear smashing a paw down on his head. He had barely seen Beast Boy change from falcon to humming bird to polar bear. His head now greatly pained, he was in no shape to defend himself against Beast Boy's next swipe of a massive paw which caught him hard in the small of his back, knocking off a piece of armor as he flew through the air from the blow. After landing, the only thing he could do was groan in pain.

Beast Boy changed into his normal form and helped Raven up from the floor. "Rae, are you alright?"

She was clutching her head where it had hit the concrete ground when she was tackled. She didn't think there were any lasting injuries, but her head was throbbing painfully. "I'm…I'm fine, just talk very quietly. I…" She looked and saw Adonis lifted off the floor by Cyborg so Robin could handcuff him, but she didn't really see Adonis like he normally looked. He looked massive. The size of her father and…and he was batting away Robin and Cyborg like they were playthings. He was starting to come towards her. Fear gripped her chest and she started to back away. His pace quickened and she tried to scream, but it caught in her throat. He was practically to her, his hands reaching for her. She knew that if they touched her she would die. He was going to kill her and no one could stop him. She blasted him with her powers, but it only seemed to make things worse. He seemed even larger now. She used every bit of power she could muster to throw him back away from her, and suddenly he was gone.

She was on the ground and Beast Boy and Robin were standing over her, yelling her name. "Raven! Stop! Raven, you've got to snap out of it! He's gone!"

Raven felt hysterical. "Where?" She shouted, wildly looking around her. "He'll kill me if he gets me! Keep him back!" She looked from Robin to Beast Boy. "Don't let him get me!" She grabbed tightly onto him and just kept repeating herself. "He'll kill me if he gets me, don't let him get me."

Beast Boy's mind was knocked for so big a loop; it felt like it would take a week before he understood what had just happened. He had helped Raven up after beating up Adonis and she had gone nuts. Screaming and trying to run away from him when Robin was about to cuff him, she had blasted him with her powers. She had tried to run farther away from him and then blasted him again; only this time she had hit him so hard that he'd gone through the high windows on the far wall.

She was still clutching onto him as he rocked her when Cyborg came up. "He's not outside. He got away." He looked down at the whimpering form of Raven in Beast Boy's arms and sighed. "Whatever he did to Star, he's done to Raven. She might be able to tell us more than Star could though.

"And we have this." Robin said holding up the piece of Adonis' armor that had been knocked off. "Beast Boy? You better carry her to the T-car. That's what I had to do with Starfire. She should be better in a few hours."

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(A/N) I know, I know! All of you people that have wanted action and I wait until chapter twenty-three to fulfill your wishes. Well, tough. I originally wasn't even going to have anything like this, but I like the way it affects the story. Well…I guess that you could say that the whole tree thing was action and Raven following around the Cullen was to some extent as well, but this is the first real battle. It was fun. Anyway, please review, it's for the children…that I don't have.


	24. Facing Your Fears

(A/N) Regrem Erutaerc, this almost never happens, but you're totally wrong. I only said that he grew as large as Trigon, not that he was in league with him. Overactive Mind, what brought it on will be explained in this chapter. wizardmon92, not hard at all, it's an action based show. I also forgot to answer your question from a few chapters back. Everyone's ages are something like this: Beast Boy 16, Raven 16, Starfire 17, Robin 17-18, and Cyborg 18-19. I don't have any concrete thing to base that off of except for how they look and act. If anybody has something more official, like what age the comics said they were when Terra died or when Trigon came, I would be glad to hear it. Raven+Robin4ever, yeah, new powers, but can you guess what they are before you read this chapter? ;-) SxStrngSamurai13, you'll have to read this chapter to find out if your guess is correct.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Facing Your Fears – A clue gives a lead, a lead gives a suspect, a suspect gives something to search for answers.

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There was a pall that hung over the Titans as they sat in the common room. Beast Boy was still holding Raven, who had finally fallen asleep instead of her constant pleas for protection. Robin and Starfire sat side-by-side, Robin's arm around her shoulder. When Raven had been carried in Starfire had cried. Only Cyborg wasn't present. As soon as they had gotten in he had gone to the lab to run tests on Adonis' armor.

So, it was with hope filled eyes that everyone who was awake looked at Cyborg when he returned. Their hope dipped as they caught the downcast attitude he bore. "I got good news and bad news." Beast Boy sat up a little straighter. "Good news is I know what he did. There's a powdery film over his armor that's made of some kind of chemical. It makes you deathly afraid of him, but only him. It gets in your head and makes you feel like you can't beat him no matter what."

"Dude…if that's the good news, what's the bad?"

Cyborg's shoulders slouched as he sat down onto the couch. "I don't know how to reverse it. It's way beyond anything I've ever seen. And…we've all been exposed. Beast Boy got it when he beat down Adonis, and you and me got it when we were picking him up to cuff him." He said to their leader.

Robin leaned forward. "But if we were hit by that stuff, why didn't he scare any of us?"

"Takes a few minutes for it to work its way through the blood stream."

"This doesn't make sense. How could Adonis come up with something like this? It's not his style, and he's too much of a moron to think it up." Robin thought intensely for a few moments when a possibility came to him. "This sounds more like Jonathan Crane."

"Uh…and who's that?" Beast Boy always got confused when Robin gave half answers.

"The Scarecrow, a psycho that I met back in Gotham. He's supposed to be locked up in Arkham Asylum still." Robin quickly made his way over to the computer and started typing. "I'm checking the Gotham police records to see if there's been any break outs lately." Robin frowned darkly. "I need to make a call." He stood and was quickly out of the room.

"Why does friend Robin leave the telephone behind if he needs to make the call?"

"Probably 'cause of who he's gonna call."

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Later that day after sunup Robin was pacing back and forth in his room. He had gotten word back from Gotham and found out that his suspicions were right. The Scarecrow had escaped over three months ago and no one had seen him since. He also found that no other help could be offered and they would be alone in their fight, but that the chemicals used wouldn't be permanent if they weren't able to find some antidote. Just…it could take weeks before they finally wore off. At the very least, he had been told attempts for an antidote would be made in any spare moments possible.

He needed to experiment on something himself. He left his room and rounded up Beast Boy and Cyborg and took them to the front lobby. He explained what he had found and about what it meant for them. The three stood somberly behind the front door waiting for what would be next. "Alright guys, we need to find out just how bad this stuff has gotten us. Starfire can't even face leaving the tower, so we'll find out if it's that bad for us. In turn each of us will attempt to walk out and head towards the edge of the water, come back when you can't go any farther, and then tell us what it did to you. Cy, you go first, I'll go last since I've been hit with Scarecrow's formulas before."

Cyborg nodded and stepped up to the door and swung it wide. He took his first step out and froze. "Rob…m-my systems are going nuts. I'm picking up Adonis on every signal. I…" His breathing had grown rapid and labored. "I'm picking him up on every sensor, but I can't see him. Rob! He's…he's almost here! I can't let him get in! He'll tear us all apart if he gets in the tower before I can get the defenses up! I've got to get the defenses up!" His voice had been steadily rising and sounded less and less rational as he went. It was like he was infected with a virus all over again. He backed into the tower and made to run up the stairs, but slowed considerably after the door had shut. "Uh, Rob? I…I'm not…picking him up…anymore." He turned slowly to the spiky haired leader. "Dog, that's messed up. I couldn't think straight. I couldn't even read my sensors right. I…" He sat down on the stairs and put his head in his hands.

"Cyborg, don't worry about it. Scarecrow's been doing this for a long time." Robin laid a hand on Cyborg's shoulder and the titanium teen looked up mournfully. "There's a reason he's one of Gotham's most dangerous criminals. It took me days of fighting it, with the best teacher there is to beat that feeling, and he's probably improved on his past tricks." Robin sighed deeply and looked up at Beast Boy. "It's your turn."

Beast Boy walked over to the door and opened it, staring out. He took a step, paused, and then kept walking. He climbed down a few of the rocks and got to the water's edge, changed into a sea lion as he jumped in, and changed back as he jumped out. He walked back up to the tower and inside again. He looked wary of being outside, but other than that seemed fine. "I think I'm immune…sorta."

"How?" Robin wasn't demanding, just asking for Beast Boy to explain.

Beast Boy looked down at Cyborg who still had a look of fear and shame on his face. He would give anything to have Cyborg have done better than him at this too. "When we were on the island, I had Raven do to me what she did to Dr. Light." Both Robin and Cyborg stared in horror and shock at Beast Boy. "I thought it would help me learn control my other form."

"So…you saw what scared him so bad?" Cyborg seemed to forget his own fear some at the thought of learning what Raven had done to the hapless villain.

"Whatever it is that she does, it makes you see all of your worst fears and the worst things a demon can think up for torture."

"And you survived?" Robin was awestruck. He knew Beast Boy could be brave; he had to be with their line of work, but nothing to that magnitude.

"I grew up learning how to face fears…I…was able to recover pretty quick from what she did. Compared to that, whatever it is that Adonis is doing is manageable." Now, when he had every opportunity and right to feel like bragging at his accomplishments, Beast Boy couldn't think of any time he'd wanted to do so less.

"I'm impressed. Deeply." Robin was smiling slightly at the green Titan. "Well…guess it's my turn to see what I can do." Robin walked to the still open door and looked outside. He took a step and another and another. He kept walking forward, but it looked like he was straining under a heavy load. After he'd gotten half way to the water his steps looked less and less labored. He finally reached the edge of the water and turned to come back. His steps seemed much easier on the return trip, but he walked much slower this time. After finally coming back inside he shut the door and knelt down to the floor, out of breath. "It…is…worse…than last time." He gasped for air between almost every word. "I think I can beat it, but it's going to take a little bit, and I'll have to do it all over again when I actually see him." His breathing had steadied and he stood up normally again. "Come on, let's go upstairs and get something to eat. Cy?"

The big man rose to his feet. "Yeah, Rob?"

"It's your choice what you do here. If you want to stay at the tower, that's fine. You'll coordinate everything Beast Boy and I do. If you can come with us, that works too. I won't order you one way or the other." Robin smiled grimly at his tall friend. "Besides, you've beaten stuff like this before with Brother Blood."

Cyborg looked down at his shoes. "No…I haven't. With Blood, it was my will against his. This is…it's me attacking me. I don't know how to look through the false info my head says when it even messes with what I think my hardware is telling me. I'll…stay at the tower."

Robin nodded and the three walked to the rear elevator.

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Beast Boy tossed and turned in his bed. It wasn't that he wasn't tired; it was the late afternoon sun coming in through his window that was keeping him awake. He had tried using thick curtains, but they only seemed to make it worse. A nice dark place ruined by bits of light filtering in. The last few nights had been quiet, except for a false alarm at a shipping yard. Robin had made them stay to fix the faulty wiring that triggered it. Beast Boy turned over again and decided that sleep just wasn't going to come until it was a little darker.

He got up to find something to do until dusk and wandered into the common room to watch a little television. He stopped when he saw Raven floating beside the couch in deep meditation. Rather than wake her out of it, he went to the kitchen table and just sat watching her from his chair. She had recovered fully by the next morning and was acting like her self again. Except that, just like Starfire and Cyborg, she showed no signs of being able to overcome the fear that was now rampaging through her mind and wouldn't leave the tower. She didn't even like the roof anymore.

Raven could feel Beast Boy watching her. Sadness seemed to come from him in wave after wave. He wanted to help her so badly and he felt so powerless. All the new skills he had developed, all the new knowledge he now possessed, and all the love he had for her and it all just wasn't enough. Raven felt so angry with herself for not being able to face this fear that she was having to meditate half the day to keep from blowing up anything. Robin had found the marble she made and had nearly thrown his back out trying to pick it up. At least she found comfort and peace with Beast Boy. It really did mean a lot to her that he cared so much.

She had tried to take off from the roof to push her tolerance of these new fears and it had taken her nearly an hour to stop freaking out. Beast Boy found her scrunched up in the fetal position on the couch after she had been there for forty minutes and held her tightly while he rocked her. She would have been mad at herself for showing him that weakness, but something about their relationship made it OK for him to see that part of her. The part of her that still remembered she was not a full-grown woman ready to stab out against the world on her own. The part of her that wished it had parents. The part of her that not only wanted to be cared for, but liked it.

It was this part of Raven that decided she had meditated enough so that she could spend time with Beast Boy. Her legs unfolded and touched down. She walked over to him and sat in the chair by his side. He put an arm around her and she leaned her head onto his shoulder. It was the way they liked to sit when they were just enjoying each other's company. The others had seen them doing it at various times, and only Cyborg was caught off guard by it. Starfire had giggled and flown off happily while Robin merely smiled at them, usually waving a greeting and farewell in one gesture. Beast Boy's eyes were just growing heavy enough to close when the alarm went off.

Everyone was quickly in the command center of the tower, their living room, to see what had happened. It seemed like it was too early in the evening for Adonis, so it was probably some other thug trying to make a name for himself by out doing the cops and needing to be taken down by the Titans.

But it was Adonis. He had broken into the shipping yard Beast Boy and Robin had been to just the other night and was clearly seen on surveillance. Beast Boy was nervous about what this fight would bring. Robin had gotten through being afraid when they were just out in the open, but he still had yet to face Adonis, and Beast Boy didn't know if he could take the egotistical body builder on his own.

When they got to the shipping yard, they entered as quietly as they could. Robin stealthily flipping over and rolling past various objects that he used as cover along the way. Beast Boy was flying high overhead as an owl so that his wings were as quiet as a bird could get.

Beast Boy was the first to spot Adonis and swooped silently down next to Robin and morphed into himself. "He's six rows down on the right." Robin nodded and started skulking his way past the other rows of shipping containers. Beast Boy had taken off back into the air, keeping watch of Robin's progress and of Adonis' actions so that Robin wouldn't be caught off guard. As Robin peeked around the sixth row at Adonis, Beast Boy held his breath, hoping that he wouldn't just stay that way or turn to run away.

He smiled as Robin started in towards the villain, well, as much as a small ground owl can smile. He changed into a hawk and went into a dive so that he and Robin would get to Adonis at the same time. Adonis' form still looked distorted to Beast Boy, but he figured if he just aimed for dead center from here he would hit his mark. Beast Boy changed into a rhino, figuring on landing on the distracted thief.

He came crashing down on Adonis who had only just turned to look at the advancing Robin and laugh at him. The impact knocking him down for the count. Beast Boy changed into his normal form and stood over the prone figure. "Oh yeah, who's the man? Who's the man?" He looked to Robin to see his smile, but quickly shouted in surprise at the figure looming up behind the boy wonder. "Robin! Look out!"

Robin went into a duck and rolled to his side. He spun around as he came out of the roll and was in a set-fighting stance. "Nice to see you again, straw man."

"I'm afraid I can't say the same, boy."

"Why're you in Jump City, Scarecrow? Gotham get too tough for you?"

He laughed eerily. "No. I merely came to a much easier harvesting ground for my needs before I return to my usual fields. There is more of the ingredients I need here than in any city on this side of the country." An arm, which had hung dead at his side rose with the butt end of a large scythe in it that he hefted into a more proper grip.

Robin readied himself for the strike. "Why'd you get the lap dog? You normally prefer to scare up trouble alone."

Scarecrow swung the deadly weapon quickly to his side, which Robin backed out of the way of. "My precious little pet knew the area better than I do. I offered to make him the most feared in the city for his assistance. I, of course, took precautions to assure his…loyalty. Such an easily preyed upon mind are those that rely solely on their strength!"

Another vicious swing came at Robin's head, which he ducked. He kicked upward, knocking the scythe out of Scarecrow's hands and jumped for the skinny frame of the mad man but was knocked out of the air by the body of Beast Boy. Adonis had woken back up and caught him distracted by what Robin and the Scarecrow were doing. The two quickly got to their feet and stared at their opponents. Robin would go after Scarecrow while Beast Boy could take down the already softened up Adonis. Instead, Adonis charged the both of them and neither knew which part of him to jump from or hit. They may have been able to break the binding fear that had gripped their teammates, but he still looked horrifically disfigured to their minds.

Beast Boy changed into his other form and lunged for Adonis' chest only to pass through the illusion and land hard on his stomach. Robin tried another tactic and attacked Adonis' legs with his freshly drawn bo staff. He connected firmly with the large man's knee and he tripped, hitting the ground hard. Robin would have continued his assault, but he was kicked in the back by the Scarecrow. Adonis and the Scarecrow quickly made their retreat while Robin was picking himself up slightly dazed from having been kicked into the wall of one of the large metal boxes while Beast Boy was regaining the breath that had been knocked out of him.

"Dude…we can't beat him if we can't see where he really is!"

"I know. We need more firepower. Think you can handle it?"

Beast Boy sighed. Their back-up plan seemed risky, and the risk was one he didn't like at all. "Yeah, I just don't want anything bad to happen."

"We'll both be watching to make sure it doesn't, but a three man team is what we need. You could take out Adonis alone if you could see him, but since you can't it's going to take at least two people to knock him down…especially if he changes into the beast."

"I know…OK, I'll do it when we get back."

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"Raven," Beast Boy started out cautiously, "can I talk to you about something?"

Raven eyed him warily; it looked like he was about to knowingly say something that might upset her. "What do you want?"

"Heh, cut to the chase, right?"

"Right."

"OK, uhm, Robin and I can't beat Adonis by ourselves, not when he's got the Scarecrow with him too. I could beat him up if he didn't look all funny because of that junk he got us with. You could help us if you…"

"I can't."

"But, Rae…"

"No, Beast Boy, I really can't. I can't even go on the roof anymore without needing to meditate for an hour afterwards to calm down again. I can't take even one step out the front door, and just opening the door makes me want to hide on the couch with you. I hate what this is doing to me, but I can't beat it. It's too strong." She looked absolutely pitiful, fretfully hugging her own arms tightly against her stomach under the folds of her cloak.

Beast Boy pulled her to him and softly spoke in her ear. "It's OK to be afraid, but there's another way to beat this. Robin and I talked about it, and I don't like it, but it could work."

She liked the way his hand was rubbing her back soothingly. "What's the other way?"

Beast Boy sighed, he'd hoped she wouldn't even ask. "Merge with Happy. You'll be able to do whatever you want no matter how scary it gets. You'd be too…uh, I guess, bubbly to let it get to you. But we'd only have about three days. If we couldn't find him or if he doesn't come out then you'll be right back to where you are now." Beast Boy gripped her more tightly. "But you don't have to do it. I think it's too risky, you might do something for fun in the middle of a fight and get hurt. I couldn't take it if you got hurt."

Raven liked his concern, but she was calculating things in her mind. It was a good idea. She could help like she wanted to. Being too happy, she wouldn't feel the effects of the fear powder and could fight alongside Robin and Beast Boy. Maybe even find the antidote in the process. "I'll do it."

He pulled her to arms length and stared in her eyes. "Rae, I…"

"Beast Boy, please let me help. I'm tired of being too afraid to keep you safe. Do you think I could handle it any better if you got hurt while I was cowering here in the tower? I need this. I need this so that I don't fall apart waiting for some other solution." She hugged him. "Will you come with me?"

He smiled at her, worry for her still in his eyes. "I wouldn't miss it for Mega Monkey twenty-three."

She laughed softly and they walked off to her room.

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(A/N) Building into the climax. You know you want it, but you won't get it till I give it to you, so go review while you wait! ;-) By the way, ONE BILLION, TRILLION, GOOGOL PLEX bonus points to SxStrngSamurai13 for correctly guessing who was helping Adonis. I was most impressed.


	25. I Fear for You

(A/N) Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing my fic. I greatly appreciate you all taking the time to do so. Overactive Mind, nope, joining with Happy doesn't mean she gets to choose what she feels, she just can feel without worrying about destroying things because she lost control. The fear chemical'll still affect her. Prince V, no, you didn't say yay too much. Yay is a happy word, use it till you get annoyed with it yourself…then…duck and cover to avoid the people throwing things at you because you just said yay for several hours straight. ;-) Bogbrush, the Scarecrow is a villain from Batman. He's a psychologist and scientist obsessed with the effects of fear on the human psyche. When they wouldn't let him play with his toys anymore because his experiments were getting dangerous he turned evil and created the Scarecrow persona and now seeks revenge on the university that ended his experiments and Batman for stopping him. He's just a big ball of lovin' that wants everyone to have that delightful bit o' fear and terror in their lives. Who can blame him? Honestly.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – I Fear for You – Giggles helps Robin and Beast Boy beat up Scarecrow and Adonis.

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"Do we get to merge now?" An excited Happy asked Raven with her smiling face almost nose to nose with the Titan. It had taken them a little while to actually find the lone emotion. She had been in one of the libraries reading about times when Raven had watched Beast Boy and Cyborg pulling pranks on each other.

Raven sighed, but couldn't hold back a small smile. "Yes, Happy, we're going to try and merge now."

"Awesome!" And she did a few cartwheels in celebration. "Cool, now I get to ask YOU questions!"

"Wait, what?"

"Aw, come on! Everybody else got to before they rejoined you, it's my turn!"

Beast Boy giggled a little, but quickly stopped at the annoyed look Raven gave him, but only just barely because of the smile Happy had.

"Alright, fine, what're your questions?" Raven really hoped this wasn't just something Happy was using as a game.

Happy instantly flopped down onto the floor Indian style. "OK, first question, why do you need me back?"

"Because…" Raven faltered for a moment as she really thought about it. "…Because I'm not whole yet. I can't be truly happy unless I am. And, I need you so that I can help Beast Boy. I don't want him to get hurt, and I can't help right now because of those chemicals."

"I know! What a jerk! He brings his big old fat head around and ruins all our play time on the island!"

Happy didn't look really mad or annoyed to Raven, just…peeved at the loss of something she thought was fun. "Uh…yeah."

"Next question!" She sprang to her feet and whispered in Raven's ear. "Will you let me have fun with Beast Boy after we've rejoined?"

Raven turned away from Beast Boy to both hide her blush and to whisper back in Happy's ear. "What do you mean by fun?"

Happy smirked a little sneakily and continued in a low whisper. "Just stuff that me, Crass, and Affection were talking about. Nothing that would go against his principles, but fun all the same."

Just what I need, Raven thought to herself, the three emotions plotting about what to do with Beast Boy happen to be the ones that the word kinky might use as a definition. "As long as it's not going to push him into stuff he doesn't want to do, I'm…OK with it…but it better be kept in serious moderation. I'm not going to turn into some flirt."

"That's fine, that's fine. As long as I get to have my fun." She stopped whispering and grinned down at Beast Boy who had sat on the floor leaning against a bookcase. "Last question! Will you please try a video game? I've wanted to see what they were like for so long, but you never look at them enough for me to imagine one in here!"

Beast Boy's ears perked up and he grinned at both Raven and Happy.

Raven wanted to protest, but the two people…well, the one person and one personified emotion staring hopefully at her caused her to grudgingly give in. "Fine. But don't expect that it will happen very much if at all after the first time." She had said this just as much to Beast Boy as she did to Happy.

Happy rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. "Fine." She mimicked. "But if I want to try them so badly do you honestly think that you won't have any desire to play them again?" Raven didn't answer, which made Happy grin even larger. She drew herself into a salute. "We are go for merger, captain. Clearance has been granted and all flight paths are free. Commence count down!"

Shaking her head, but still grinning slightly in an I-can't-believe-I'm-actually-going-to-do-this sort of way, Raven bowed her head in concentration. Happy gave a little giggle as they rose into the air and another, somewhat excited laugh as she started to circle Raven's prone, hovering form.

Beast Boy watched in fascination, as Happy's figure became a whirling blur. She seemed to be going even faster than the others had and he couldn't hold in a gasp, as the ring grew suddenly larger before shooting in to Raven at blinding speeds. Even with his eyes closed the light got to him and he had to turn away. The flash seemed to be anything but with how long it had lasted, but feeling the light die down, Beast Boy cautiously opened his eyes.

He watched transfixed as Raven slowly lowered to the ground. She was in her purest white cloak and leotard and her eyes were still closed. As she landed she opened her eyes and saw Beast Boy's unwavering gaze and slightly agape mouth. "Dude…" was all he could think to say, as awestruck as he was. It had always amazed him how powerful Raven could be, but something about her clad in this all-white uniform made her seem even more so to him. She looks like an angel minus the wings, he thought.

"Minus the wings? That's kind of corny, don't you think?" She smiled warmly at him.

Beast Boy shook his head and then smiled back at her. "Heh, but that's how you look…uh…how do you feel?"

"Wonderful!" And she flew around, doing a few spins and loop-de-loops.

Beast Boy laughed. "Then you're ready to go kick bad guy butt?"

"Why not? It'll be fun, right?"

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"Why are we letting him take that stuff?"

"So he leads us to wherever they're keeping it all. Plus, it's a good bet that we'll be able to catch the Scarecrow there too. We want to take both of them down." Robin answered changing course in his glider cape.

"Can I have a pony?"

The two boys turned their dumbfounded looks towards Raven.

"But I like ponies!"

"Raven? Maybe later. Right now we've got to follow Adonis without him seeing us so that we can stop him and try and find the antidote."

She pouted a little. "Fine, but I want to go to the zoo to see the ponies later."

Beast Boy stifled a laugh while Robin hung his head dejectedly. This had been the freakiest thing he had ever seen. Raven…giddy…silly…and about as far from serious as Beast Boy was. It was unnerving and causing him to think he might have been wrong about his plan. He was broken out of his doubts by a soft call from Beast Boy.

"He just carried all that stuff back to that yard we fought him at before."

Beast Boy had freaked him out too. The changeling was flying alongside him in the form of a manticore. It looked like a lion with Beast Boy's face and a giant pair of bat wings on its back. He was glad that the green shape shifter had studied so hard while on the island, but it still didn't ease his mind that he was next to a creature that wasn't supposed to exist. Snapping out of his thoughts he looked down to see Adonis back where they had come up on him before, among all the rows of shipping containers. "This must be where they were hiding everything then. They weren't stealing from here, they were putting it here so Scarecrow could ship it out when he's got everything he wants!"

Robin started his decent and the others followed. He landed noiselessly several rows up from where Adonis was, Beast Boy padding softly to the ground next to him. Raven just kept hovering in the air grinning.

"Alright, Beast Boy, head around that side. Raven, go over the top of these things." He said pointing to the large metal boxes in front of them. "I'll go around over here. Remember, you two try and take out Adonis before he even notices anyone's here. I'll take down the straw man."

They each started to head in the directions that Robin had indicated, but Raven turned to whisper at Beast Boy. "I call first attack!" She said smiling as she floated up and out of sight over the containers.

Beast Boy was scampering along the ground as a rat, figuring that if he were seen, it wouldn't look like anything out of the ordinary because the darkness would hide his color. He looked down the next row he came upon and saw Adonis heft a pallet of fifty-gallon drums into an open semi. The vehicle wasn't on, but it was obvious that Scarecrow must have gotten everything he wanted and was heading back to Gotham very soon. As Beast Boy made his way up through the shadows towards Adonis he caught sight of Raven peering down at the muscular foe. After he had placed his load inside the truck Adonis shut the doors and locked them.

Raven stood slowly and allowed her powers to engulf a few empty steel drums that lay nearby. She was raising them above Adonis to send them crashing down on his head when she heard Beast Boy scream. "Raven! Look out!"

She just barely jumped out of the way of a scythe swing that was aimed at her head. The Scarecrow grinned maliciously at her as he prepared to attack again. Raven again backed out of the way of his swing, but instead of it finishing to swing through the empty space Robin's bo staff clanged against the grizzly weapon's shaft. "Get Adonis!" And the boy wonder was off, driving back the madman.

Raven looked to where Adonis had been, but he was gone. Beast Boy wasn't anywhere to be seen either and she could only hear the grunts of Robin and the Scarecrow as they fought. She rose high into the air to get a better view of the surroundings and only saw a yellowish blur just before it collided with her. The grin she had seemed to evaporate as the air was driven from her lungs. They slammed into the ground and she felt even more air pressed out of her, though she didn't know where it could have come from. A frighteningly fierce roar demanded her attention despite the painful gasps for air she was feeling.

Adonis was standing over her in that bestial form, a terrible sneer on his jowls. The roar hadn't come from him, but from the side that Adonis was facing. Beast Boy looked murderously at what had been done and savagely launched himself at the creature that threatened his mate. They collided and crashed through the side of one of the shipping containers.

Raven regained her breath while she listened to the almost too violent sounds of Beast Boy's assault. Another crash brought the both of them back out into the open and Adonis was able to quickly kick Beast Boy off of him. Raven watched, as he seemed to grow again, his form seeming to tower over them and everything around them. She grinned as she got to her feet. "Your tricks aren't going to save you. It's my turn to play!"

The almost forgotten barrels sprang to life and came crashing together where she saw Adonis' head. They just passed through it harmlessly and fell to the ground. Beast Boy leapt at the fierce looking foe to tackle his mid section, but again nothing seemed to connect and he passed harmlessly through. He morphed into his normal form briefly to shout out to Raven. "I can't see where he really is! How do I hit him?"

She stared at the giant trying to solve their problem. Adonis was not idle though and had seized the drums Raven had tried to hit him with. He threw one at Raven and then another and then one at Beast Boy. Raven dodged the first easily and his movements sparked her mind. "Beast Boy, his shadow! Watch his shadow!" The second barrel was screaming right for the shouting Titan, but was caught in a black aura before it connected. She smiled in a way that only her father would have been proud of and launched the barrel at where she guessed Adonis' head was.

There was a loud clang as the metal of the barrel rang out against the metal of Adonis' armor and the bone of his skull. He staggered backwards from the vicious blow only to be doubled over by the feeling of Beast Boy's other form's full weight crushing into his gut. Beast Boy would not let him fall to his knees though. He changed into a gorilla and held him up as he sent a long arm and fist smashing into Adonis' stomach. He reached back again and smacked the hapless villain full in the face. He drew back his fist again and again, punching and pounding every inch he could find. He would have continued, but he was engulfed in Raven's black aura and pulled back away from his victim who now was able to crumple unconscious to the floor.

"He's beaten. It's enough, Beast Boy." She was not smiling.

Beast Boy could only barely restrain himself. Adonis had attacked Raven and hurt her. He shouldn't be allowed to live! But seeing that the one he was seeking to protect was the one calling him back, he relented and merely glared down at the prone figure. He flowed back into his normal form and turned stern eyes to Raven. "Are you OK?"

"Yes," and she allowed a smile to come through, "are you calm now?"

He let out a breath. "Yeah…he just better hope he doesn't try anything else any time soon." He said, giving Adonis another scathing look.

Raven giggled a little as she walked up to Beast Boy. "I don't think he'd be able to." She put her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tender kiss. "Isn't my line supposed to be something like…my hero?"

Beast Boy laughed a little and they kissed again.

Robin had been watching the two of them since Raven had told Beast Boy to look at Adonis' shadow. The fear chemicals were too strong for him to join in the fight, but at least he had been able to force himself to watch. Beast Boy's brutality with Adonis had been excessive, but seeing why he had done so allowed him to overlook it. But seeing the two of them getting…intimate…had been way too much for him and he turned his back to allow them privacy while he blushed a little.

After giving them what he thought was enough time, Robin cleared his throat and said, "I've got the Scarecrow up here in cuffs. Do you guys need anything to lock up Adonis?"

The pair separated and turned to the large man in question. "I think if Cyborg gives him that antidote again to stop his changing and we get rid of his power armor, that he'll be easy enough to keep locked up." Raven said coolly smiling.

Robin nodded his approval and they set to work delivering their defeated enemies to the proper authorities.

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It was several days later when a package arrived at the tower addressed to Robin. He opened it eagerly and called the others into their medical bay when he saw that it was what he was waiting for. He smiled like a kitten with a new catnip mouse when he showed them the cardboard box.

"So what's in it, dude?" Beast Boy was curiously trying to peek in the top, but Robin held it up too high.

"It's the antidote to that stuff the Scarecrow made for Adonis. We didn't find any when we searched his things, probably because he usually makes himself immune from his own formulas and because he kept Adonis away from reflective surfaces."

"Whoa, yo, hold up. You mean meat head would have scared himself?" Cyborg didn't know whether to laugh at the thought or shudder at how ruthless that made the Scarecrow. He could have kept full control of Adonis with just a mirror.

Robin nodded. "The Scarecrow doesn't play favorites. Anyway, my contact in Gotham says that he's locked tight back in Arkham. He's also the one who sent this. Said it was similar to past stuff, so it didn't take long to figure out once he had enough time."

"We've been waiting for some egghead to make time for us?"

Robin frowned at Raven. "It's not like that. Just…let it go. Come on, it's just a quick injection."

Starfire leaned to Cyborg and whispered, "why does friend Robin never say the name of his friend in the city of Gotham?"

Cyborg smiled softly and whispered back, "it's a little bit of hero worship. His old partner is supposed to be one of the best."

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A short chapter, but I wanted to save the other things that are going to happen for the last chapter. Raven and Beast Boy's last date in the story! I hope that you all at least liked what went on for this dinky bit, let me know by reviewing. ;-) I love shamelessness.


	26. Trick and Treat

(A/N) The last chapter! Sort of…I'm writing up a little explanation thing after this that'll be a type of addendum. TheDenied, nope, no pony, but I do believe he has plans to take her to a petting zoo that has them. They're going there sometime in the fall though, so it won't be in this fic. ;-)

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Trick and Treat – In which all things come to a close.

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"Beast Boy…isn't this a little extreme?"

"No!" He turned to Raven looking scandalized, but then broke into an evil grin. "It's a LOT extreme! If you're only gonna help me with one prank ever than I'm making it the best one I'll ever do."

Raven was holding the T-car upside-down against the ceiling of the garage while Beast Boy bolted it in place. It was the last item that needed to be attached and was proving tricky. They had finally decided on running very heavy gauge u-shaped bolts so they could connect the steel frame undercarriage to the steel beams at the top of the room.

Cyborg's workbench, tool chest, and even the things that sat on top of anything else were set in place so that the floor and ceiling had switched places. Raven had gotten the tin-man out of the tower by convincing him to take the hut she had turned into a marble to a recycling plant since they paid by weight, and not by bulk. She had even convinced him to walk it in by making him believe that the over weight yet pocket-sized object would hurt his precious car if he had put it inside. He had shrieked at the thought and set out on foot to the plant across town.

What Beast Boy was most proud of was the now sideways door that led to the rear of the tower. It was going to be the capstone to all of this when Cyborg finally got home. Beast Boy tightened the last bolt and lowered himself down the rope he was on. "OK, now, so we don't get murdered in our sleep, let the car go, but be ready to catch it again."

Raven let her hold go and the chrome and white vehicle didn't even twitch. Beast Boy let out a cry of triumph and Raven even smiled at the accomplishment.

"Alright, now get to your spot and don't forget how it's supposed to go…we're only gonna get one shot at him." Beast Boy changed into a small monkey and sat on one of the steel beams they had laid out across the floor to complete the effect. Raven ducked out the sideways door and they waited.

They had been waiting a little over half an hour when they heard Cyborg come through the front of the tower laughing to himself. Probably giddy about new parts for his baby. Raven had suggested he could use the money from the recycling at an auto shop. He had obviously taken the bait.

He skipped into the garage, the bag close to his face, like he was trying to peek in at it all the time. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Beast Boy doing a handstand where his car should have been sitting. The green teen didn't see his face turn angrier and angrier since he had his back to Cyborg. "What'd you do with my car?" Cyborg shouted.

Beast Boy's handstand faltered and he quickly pulled himself flush with the metal beam he was on, clutching it for dear life. He changed back into his normal form and shouted, "DUDE! DON'T DO THAT!" He glared at Cyborg, still grabbing as tightly as his skinny frame could. "What's with the magnet boots?"

"Beast Boy, I'm not wea…" His voice died in his throat as he watched Beast Boy change into a humming bird and fly down to the car.

Beast Boy made sure to hide that he was wearing magnet boots himself as he changed back into his normal form to stare up at Cyborg. "Dude…those things have gotta be strong. You weigh like four hundred pounds!"

Cyborg's human eye was twitching. "I…I…uh…"

It was at this point that Raven came in through the sideways door sideways. She was using her powers and a lot of hair gel to keep gravity from revealing the trick. "Hey, Beast Boy…want to go outside? I think there're some sea lions near the tower. We should go check them out."

"Cool! Hey, Cyborg! Wanna go with us? Sea lions are really rare out here."

Cyborg though was not quite himself at the moment. Who he was isn't important, but whoever that person was decided that now would be a good time to drool over himself and run from the room screaming. He only got as far as the door he had come in through. It wouldn't open and he could hear people laughing behind him.

He turned around slowly and saw something that frightened him almost as much as what he had just seen. Raven was laughing, and not just a little snigger that she was trying to hide, no; this was a good heartfelt laugh. The sight allowed him to become himself again and allow that other person he had become to go back wherever he had come from. "W-wha…what's going on?" He bellowed, on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Gotcha." Was all Raven could say. Beast Boy had flown down to laugh next to her and held up a small video camera that he had hidden to capture the special moment.

Still laughing some, Beast Boy spoke in between gasps for air. "You should see your face! And you'll get to, after Raven and I put everything back." Raven had made Beast Boy promise that they would undo what they had done as a way to calm Cyborg down and make him able to enjoy the gag himself…after he'd been sufficiently teased about it for a month or so. But at least they were going to put every last bolt back in place right away.

Cyborg looked back and forth between the two. His mind was trying to decide between a number of options. 1. Kill them both for touching his baby. "No…looks bad for a superhero to hide bodies." 2. Revenge pranks. "Raven would kill me and Beast Boy wouldn't care." 3. Wait for the hazing to die down and learn to laugh at having been gotten pretty good. "Option three it is…man, that sucks!"

"Dude? You know you totally just said all that out loud, right?"

"Wait, what? Aw, man!" Option four came to mind at this point. Anger, and then do option three. "What did you guys do to my garage? YOU BETTER PUT EVERY LAST…"

Raven cut him off, her voice dangerously low and soft. "Cyborg. Quiet. We already said we were putting everything back. Come back in an hour and we should be done by then."

"Fine!" He grudgingly acquiesced. "But if even one scratch is on my baby I'll…"

"I said quiet! Get out while we put everything back." The big man pouted by slouching his shoulders and stomping his way back out of the garage. "Alright, let's get to work."

"OK." Beast Boy pulled the rope he had used earlier out from hiding. "Hey, Raven?"

"Yes, Beast Boy?"

"You're awesome!"

She blushed a little and smiled. "Thanks."

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Raven was self-consciously looking at herself in the bathroom mirror. Serious doubts played across her mind. She was well known, and as a regular at the café she would be noticed. Raven…the supposed goth…would be wearing a pure white cloak and leotard…and her boyfriend…whoa…that's a weird thought…BOYFRIEND…very strange…her boyfriend, the ever spunky Beast Boy, would be reading a poem in front of everyone. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Friend Raven! Why are you still in the bathing chamber? We are supposed to be on our way to the café of poetry!" Starfire quickly pulled Raven along behind her.

She didn't know why she'd said the others could come. She thought that telling them they had to have a date to go would be enough of a deterrent, but Robin had asked Starfire…after an hour of stuttering false starts…and Cyborg had called up Bumblebee. So now, it was a triple date with her feeling like she was doing something that would be betraying the attitude of the people she liked to spend time with on odd weekends.

Raven shook herself out of it as Beast Boy helped her into the car. He was trying to be as gentlemanly as possible, but some of the charm wore off when Raven realized how much of a little kid the current situation made her feel. Cyborg and Bumblebee were in the front seats making it seem like the parents were driving the kids out to their cute little date. Stupid no driver's license. Robin and Starfire were taking the R-cycle…Raven was starting to appreciate why Beast Boy had wanted his own vehicle, even if it was something as silly as a moped.

As they pulled into the tiny parking lot, most people just walked to the place, the odd group herded up behind Raven and Beast Boy and several people who were walking into the club for the evening's readings openly stared. Everyone was handling it as well as they could, they all felt like fish out of water, each for their own reasons.

Robin's reason was because he was on his first ever date with Starfire…and there were four other people with them for the evening.

Starfire's reason was because she was on her first date with Robin, and where she was from, it was always supposed to be the boy who asked the girl out so that it was only the men who could be rejected…their idea of chivalry. She'd just wished that Robin wouldn't have been so slow to realize how much she liked him.

Beast Boy's reason was because of what he had in his pocket.

Raven's reason was because of the conflict of who to show loyalty to, a small group of close friends or a large crowd of possibly judgmental acquaintances.

Bumblebee's reason was because she was on her third date with Cyborg and he still hadn't tried to kiss her. She might not have let him, but it would be nice to know he wanted to.

Cyborg's reason was because he knew this part of town, having been here plenty of times to bust small time crooks, and he was leaving his car without him there to guard it from street punks.

They filed into the dimly lit place and found a booth big enough to hold them all. Raven was relieved that it was in the back corner of the club. They sat down as a girl in a simple black skirt with a grey shirt and fishnet gloves read from a notebook on the stage.

"Trapped. Trapped and all is blackness. You reach for me, but I push you away. The darkness is my peace. Let my grave protect me."

She finished and there was a mild applause. "She's one of the house favorites. Pretty upbeat tonight."

Everyone turned to gawk at Raven and then at the black haired girl as she walked back to her seat. Beast Boy leaned over to Raven and whispered. "Are all of them that…uh…"

"Dark?" Raven offered.

"Uh, yeah."

She gave Beast Boy a calming smile. "No. It's pretty much an open mic. There've even been some people who come in and make up nonsense poems on the spot."

"What's that?"

"Silly poems that don't have to make sense. Like Jabberwocky from Through the Looking Glass."

"Uhm, what?"

Raven sighed. "Alice in Wonderland."

"Oh…sorry."

Raven smiled and took his hand. "It's OK. I'll let you borrow that book when we get home."

"Cool." Beast Boy just sat smiling, holding Raven's hand. He watched a few different people reading their poems. Some of them were a little over his head, but there was one that was pretty funny about some guy and how his girlfriend had dumped him. He was really starting to enjoy the feel of the place when Raven leaned over to him.

"So…when are you going on?"

Beast Boy's green face faded several shades. He had forgotten about his agreement because he was enjoying himself. "What do I do?"

"See that guy over there?" She pointed to a tall, skinny guy with mousey brown hair and a clipboard. "You just go tell him you want to do a reading and he'll tell you how many people are ahead of you."

"Oh…'K" Beast Boy stood up and walked over to the emcee, his stomach doing back flips faster and faster the closer he got. "Hi, I wanted to do a…uhm, reading."

"Sure, what's your name?" He looked up from his sheet with a bored expression on his face. His expression didn't change, but he began writing before Beast Boy had even opened his very dry mouth. "Right, stupid of me, sorry. OK, Mr. Beast Boy, you'll be on right after John over there finishes. It's a slow night, so there's pretty much no wait."

"I've never done this before."

"Really." His expression still seemed glued in that bored expression. "Just tell them your name…maybe not…no, they'll know it, me being stupid again, right…tell them the title and then just read the poem. You can add something at the beginning about why you wrote it if you want to."

"I've talked in front of people before, I meant about how to read a poem."

The emcee stared unblinking for what felt like half a minute. "Read it as though you want people to see the emotions you felt when you wrote it."

"Is that what you do?" Beast Boy felt a sort of link to the person who reminded him of how Raven used to be, but he seemed a lot more patient. He hadn't yelled or gotten annoyed yet.

"No. I don't read my poems. Frankly it scares me to death to think of other people getting to listen to my most private emotions."

Beast Boy was amazed. The only thing that showed that he was scared of sharing his poetry was the words. Not even a hint of what he felt had come through. Raven needed to see this. Beast Boy turned to go get her when the emcee caught his arm.

"You're up."

Suddenly, the emcee's fears about reading poetry in front of people hit home and Beast Boy wanted to run away and hide. So, naturally, he strolled out on stage, blinking a little in the single spotlight aimed at the microphone. He took his place behind it and cleared his throat. "Uhm…hi." He squeaked. He cleared his throat again. "I'm Beast Boy…and…this is a poem I wrote. It's called…uh…" He pulled the piece of paper he had in his pocket out and read off the title. "A Serious Poem."

Raven closed her eyes out of respect for Beast Boy. If this was as bad as his title made it seem, she didn't want to see him humiliated. Especially with Robin and Cyborg there. It sounded like his poem was going to be at about a fourth grade reading level, they wouldn't let him live it down for months.

"Anyway…uh…here it is." Beast Boy said, trying to get his mind off of the amount of eyes and ears all focused on him.

"_I've stopped believing what I see._

_I can't tell when it's real or in my imagination._

_Everyone's always said a raven is a large, ugly, black bird,_

_but the Raven I see is beautiful beyond words._

_They told me that a raven's song is harsh and grating,_

_but I want to listen to the Raven I see for hours on end._

_They try to tell me that a raven is a lowly scavenger living off of others,_

_but the Raven I see lives for others._

_She holds in her joy and her pain and lets it burn inside her_

_so that even people who don't deserve it can smile if they want to._

_I know what they say about a raven is true,_

_but the Raven that I see is my proof that I can't see what they do._

_And as I look at my Raven,_

_I don't think I want to."_

Beast Boy stood there for a moment, his eyes refocusing from the sheet in his hands to the crowd in front of him. A soft applause was heard and he smiled nervously as he left the stage.

"Good job. What's it mean?" The emcee had come over to him.

"Uh…Raven's a girl on the Titans…and…"

"Oh…yes…stupid of me yet again…I seem to be doing well at that today…well…I would guess that you'd much rather prefer her company. Still, good poem. Cheers."

"Thanks, I think…uh, bye." Beast Boy made his way back to the table where the other Titans sat looking at him in shock. He laughed nervously and got back into his seat next to Raven. He turned to look at her, what he got was the still stunned looks that everyone had. Beast Boy just stared back at them, his hand reaching behind his head. "Sooooooo…what's up?"

Starfire was the first to regain her speaking abilities. "That was a wonderful poem, friend Beast Boy! It is not as long as those I learned as a child, but I believe it was beautiful!"

"Yeah, that was really good." Bumblebee then turned to Cyborg. "How come you never write anything like that for me?"

This snapped Cyborg out of his stupor and he snapped his head to Bumblebee worriedly. "Hey! We haven't even been goin' out for that long! They were on an island together every day for over a month!"

"Doesn't mean you couldn't think up something like that." She countered, folding her arms.

Cyborg just mumbled to himself. Something about a "little grass stain" and "didn't even know he could write," but nothing else could really be made out.

Feeling he was supposed to say something too, Robin chimed in. "I didn't know you wrote poetry, Beast Boy. Good job."

"Uh…thanks." He answered distractedly, still watching Cyborg fume. He didn't understand why Cy was giving him dirty looks. But what he was really waiting for was Raven. She had been so deathly quiet since he'd gotten back, just sipping her tea. He was about to try and get something out of her when he heard his name. He turned and standing in front of the table was a sly looking young woman.

She was a little shorter than Starfire, but not by much. She had auburn hair that set off her soft blue eyes. "You're Beast Boy, right? The guy who read the last poem?"

"Yeah, did you want an autograph?" People had always come up to the Titans when they were hanging out in public asking them to sign things.

She laughed a little and then smiled confidently. "Actually I was wondering if I could give you my phone number instead."

"Mine."

Beast Boy turned to see Raven staring coldly at the girl. He would have been frightened for the poor dear, but his mind was still seeing if what she had said meant what he thought it did. He decided that it did and pity for the fragile creature soon followed.

The girl's eyes widened. "Hey, you're Raven! …Uh, hmm, Raven…right, idiot, sorry. I…I'll go now."

"Wait!" Now Raven was the one wide-eyed, looking at Beast Boy. "I'm just curious…is the guy with the clipboard your brother or something?"

The auburn haired woman looked confused for a moment, but shook herself out of it. "Uhm, yes. Yes he is…kind of a strange person, but yes, he's my brother."

"OK, thanks."

"Right…uhm, ta."

Beast Boy couldn't figure out if they were from England or if they were just goofing around. They both seemed equally oblivious. He was still trying to figure out where the two were from when he noticed he had Raven's hand in his. He looked down at his occupied hand and tried to figure out when it had happened. It came to him that he had been too distracted, for obvious reasons, to remember.

Raven saw him looking questioningly at their hands together and smiled to herself. She whispered to him as she took another sip of tea. "I grabbed it when that idiot came up."

He looked at her a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Kind of possessive there, reminds me of something…"

Feeling she was being set up, but not really caring, Raven bit. "What does it remind you about?"

"Cullen's cave." He answered, remembering how very territorial his other side had been.

Raven turned pink in the face though, as different memories about the cave came to her. She glanced sidelong at Beast Boy and saw that he looked wistful. At least he was keeping his thoughts clean, she scolded herself. But then, that had been why she hadn't touched him till she felt threatened, his poem had been mediocre, but the thought behind it made it as highly esteemed as Poe's tale of a raven was to her. She didn't trust herself and there were just too many prying eyes. She gave his hand a squeeze and was warmed to feel it returned. Raven felt the date was definitely a good one as she settled in for the next poet.

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Cyborg dropped Raven and Beast Boy off at the tower before he left to drive Bumblebee home. He had made the excuse that it was so she wouldn't have to fly home in the dark, but even Beast Boy knew it was so he could be with her for longer.

Beast Boy made a show of holding every door open for Raven and would have continued, but he didn't know the code for her door.

"Beast Boy? I really had a good time tonight. Thank you."

"I had a lot of fun too…it was scary, but fun."

"About that scary part…I haven't told you what I thought of your poem yet."

Beast Boy started rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah…it's OK, Rae…if you didn't like it, I can understand that…I mean, it's the first poem I ever wrote and it didn't even rhyme or anythi…"

He would have kept on rambling, but Raven was preventing it by the full kiss she was giving him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, which she was starting to realize was a very girlish way to hold onto a guy and…she didn't mind. She purred at the feeling of Beast Boy's arms drawing her even closer. She kissed his chin and worked her way up his jaw line to his ear. He returned her passions by rubbing her back before he recaptured her mouth.

Raven had thoughts of pulling him into her room and just keeping him with her as long as possible, but Beast Boy broke free from her hungry kisses.

"I guess you liked it."

Raven laughed a little in spite of herself. "No, I loved it…and I love you too." And she gave him a gentle brief kiss.

He smiled and led her to her door. "And I love you too." He kissed her one more time. "Night, Rae."

"Goodnight, Beast Boy."

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(A/N) A cutesy ending, yes? I think I had something like five chapters that end with them saying goodnight to each other. That's as lemony fresh as this will get. Sorry if that's not what you wanted, you can get where to send money by asking for it through e-mail. That's when I'll start writing what you guys want. ;-) Actually, I found a lot of your suggestions helpful. I might not have used any of them (I may have already been intending to do something you suggested or I can't remember that I used it. I haven't really read the whole story myself yet.), but I got plenty of inspiration from them. They helped me to ask myself the right questions. Asking questions is how I write. What're the questions I ask myself the most? "What happens next?" and "What do I want to see next?" Review please; it'll help save the sasquatch population. (It's the nickname that people try to stick me with from time to time. Never stays.)


	27. Addendum

(A/N) I wanted to thank everyone who wrote a review for this story or even just read it. It's been fun writing it and I really was surprised to see other people liked it. Thank you for the words of support and encouragement. Just so you know, this is not part of the story. It is an addendum. The title of what FFN is calling chapter 27 should have been a good enough clue. If it wasn't, then you have to tell me who was kind enough to read the other chapters to you. ;-) quillmaster14, I didn't let Raven take Beast Boy into her room because I think should would respect his abstinence choice. It's just the way I believe she would be. However, I can't say I really know that Beast Boy would choose abstinence. Sex is never mentioned in the series, and I would also doubt it's mentioned in the comics, so I chose to interpret that as the characters were the type of people who waited for marriage rather than seeing it as a bunch of writers trying to keep the stories safe for all ages. ;-) Spawn, I chose to use the Scarecrow because of Adonis. I knew that I wanted them to have to fight Adonis after getting pulled back to the tower, but I needed to make him a deadlier foe so that the Titans don't just flatten him. He was portrayed as a less than intelligent surfer type, so I decided he would become more powerful through somebody else's help rather than being able to do it himself. Fear was enticing to me for a power, so the Scarecrow came to mind. Not from Batman Begins, but from Batman: The Animated Series. I haven't seen Batman Begins yet.

Disclaimer: I own everything I'm about to talk about since it's all about my story. I don't own Teen Titans, but I think I could handle the royalty checks if I did.

Tamed – Addendum – Where I explain things that you may or may not have been curious about. Might be a bit boring to those of you who just want more story.

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First off, I wanted to explain the chapter names. I like coming up with names that make you figure out what it's talking about. I'll decipher them here:

Chapter 1 – Yellow, White, and Green – This should have been pretty easy. Yellow for Robin, white for Raven, and green for Beast Boy. They're the chapter's, and the story's three main characters.

Chapter 2 – For Want of Plumbing – OK, nothing to figure out about this one. Raven just wants a bathroom.

Chapter 3 – Deep Green – This refers to how Beast Boy seems to have a lot more knowledge then he normally lets on about, portraying him as a deep thinker. This was also a funny title to me because it reminds me of IBM's chess playing computer Deep Blue.

Chapter 4 – Nine in One – Meant to be understood after the chapter was finished. It refers to how Raven has nine embodied emotions inside her head.

Chapter 5 – Technicolor Teens – Raven's cloak changing colors with her emotions and Beast Boy's green skin. Kind of pointing at the old black and white movies that were changed to color where the color just looked fake.

Chapter 6 – What Color is a Raven? – This and the first chapter are the only chapter titles with punctuation. The question was a hint at the black color Raven's cloak had taken previously, which I used to represent Raven when she wasn't feeling anything at all.

Chapter 7 – A Changed Man – Another one that you're meant to understand at the end. It of course refers to his changing into other people to try and tempt Raven.

Chapter 8 – For You – It's what Beast Boy does for most of the chapter. He gives her a present in his beast form, he changes back from his beast form, and he even tries to look at her side of things. He's a sweet heart.

Chapter 9 – Testy – I was trying to be clever. Name the chapter Testy so people will think Raven or Beast Boy is being a jerk or something, and instead it's about Raven giving Beast Boy a test to see if he's serious about wanting to date.

Chapter 10 – Two to One – Talking about a merger of course between Raven and Wisdom, the first one in the story.

Chapter 11 – Scary Thoughts – Refers to Raven's panic about the coming date and Beast Boy seeing all his worst fears when Raven does that thing to him. (I've never heard it given a name, and nobody else's stories have one made up, so I went with the idea that there wasn't one, and that Raven didn't really know she could do anything like that until it happened with Dr. Light.)

Chapter 12 – Of Moonlight – Their first date! Chapter title is a nod to how Beast Boy compliments Raven's looks.

Chapter 13 – In a Word – This title is so you try and think about what one word describes this chapter. For me it's either kiss or crass.

Chapter 14 – Through the Eyes of a Beast – A Beast Boy that is. It's referring to Cullen seeing everything through Beast Boy's eyes like Beast Boy had with him in an earlier chapter.

Chapter 15 – Over Due – I really liked this title. It's talking about how long Raven waited to rejoin with Intelligence when she could have probably done it right after joining with Crass. It's also a bit of a pun since Intelligence is Raven's memory librarian complete with her library area.

Chapter 16 – Name Dropping – I dropped in the other Titans after not having them in the story for so long, and this chapter marks the end of using the name Cullen for Beast Boy's other form. Robin is right, it's not another person or anything, it's Beast Boy.

Chapter 17 – Pale Sea Green – This is the color that Raven's leotard changes to after her merger, kind of a hint at that happening, but by this point I expected most to be able to guess pretty well when the next fusing would happen.

Chapter 18 – Stuck in the Middle – Raven is kind of between emotions during the whole chapter. She gets a good scare from the rides, but doesn't really show it because she's also feeling so calm at the same time. She's also stuck in the middle of what she thinks she feels for Beast Boy. She doesn't know if it's love or not.

Chapter 19 – The Confessional – Raven decides to tell Beast Boy exactly how she feels about every aspect of him, which after she finishes helps her to realize she does love him.

Chapter 20 – Fused Together – This refers to Raven fusing with her next emotion, Affection, and how because of that emotion being back in full power she keeps trying to keep Beast Boy as close to her as possible.

Chapter 21 – Seeing Red – The title is about Raven having to go see Anger to get her to merge back again and how angry Anger is towards Raven.

Chapter 22 – Everybody Hurts – This one is about how Raven hurts Beast Boy by losing her temper and how sorry and pained she is for having done it.

Chapter 23 – A Strong Fear – It mostly means Adonis with his new powers, cause he's like strong and now everybody is afraid of him. ;-) But it also is talking about how worried Raven is that she didn't get to finish her training before being called back to the tower.

Chapter 24 – Facing Your Fears – Refers to the three boys seeing how badly they're affected by the chemicals and about Robin and Beast Boy going off to fight Adonis.

Chapter 25 – I Fear for You – Just means Beast Boy is worried about Raven. It's kind of a theme of the whole story. Beast Boy wants Raven to be happy, and she struggles.

Chapter 26 – Trick and Treat – A pretty obvious one. Cyborg gets tricked, and Raven gets treated to a nice date.

Chapter 27 – Addendum – It comes from Latin and means something added or to be added, especially a supplement to a book. that's what the chapter titles meant. The other thing I wanted to explain was about the colors.

What I did was use the straight color of each emotion. I didn't try and figure out the shade the show or comic uses, I just got the solid, normal, RGB code color. Then, when I wanted to mix colors, I would add up their RGB numbers and divide each by the number of colors.

For Raven's leotard it was a little different since I wanted it to end up turning white when the last color (pink) was added. I developed a mathematical formula for it. (Sad, isn't it?) In RGB white is Red – 255, Green – 255, and Blue – 255, as much as you can have of each color in equal amounts. If you lower the numbers equally it starts to turn grey. So, since mixing the nine colors of Raven's emotions together and dividing by nine doesn't get anywhere close to actual white, the formula was needed. Simply, whenever Raven joined an emotion, a color was added. At two colors, the formula kicks in. For every emotion beyond the first one eighth of the color mix is white. So, if brown is RGB 128-64-0 and orange is RBG 255-128-0 and I mixed them, I would normally get a kind of dark red-orange with an RGB number of 192-96-0, the two colors' average RGB. The formula makes it instead RGB 200-116-32 because the dark red-orange's numbers are divided by eight and however many colors beyond the first is how many parts are replaced by one eighth white's RGB number 32-32-32. This means that as I got closer to adding in the ninth color that I was using less and less of the actual color mixture and more and more of just white. This also means I really am a geek.

I did this for one purpose only, so I had a visual aid when I would need to describe a color that Raven had changed to. I didn't want to just say her leotard had gotten lighter. Too vague for the way I think and it would have gotten pretty stale after four fusions or so.

Anyway, that's everything I wanted to explain. Thank you all again for reading, and if you've read all of this and it bored you to tears…I did warn you.

Toodles,

Wind Lane


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